Wasteland
by SeththeGreat
Summary: 7 years ago, the world was destroyed by a battle among power hungry fighters. Now, survivors must deal with the hardships of the post-apocalyptic Smash Wasteland. Among them is Solid Snake, who lives in isolation and his only motive is to survive...at least that's what he thought until he heard that other fighters might still be alive.
1. Prolouge

_I remember when everyone was afraid…afraid that Tabuu was going to destroy the world. He came pretty damn close, but we stopped him. How ironic that years later the world we fought so hard to protect, would be destroyed by some of the very warriors that defended it. And the reason? A very stupid one…power. Just a sheer lust for power. It culminated into a battle that many refer to as the "Final Smash" for the world. It was a battle I saw with my own two eyes. As far as I know I'm the only person alive to have witnessed the battle that destroyed life as we knew it, and the events that led up to it. I guess I'll write it down so that it can be recorded in history. So where do I begin?_

 _I guess I'll begin with the origin of the key factor, the smash ball. It was introduced in the 3_ _rd_ _Smash tournament, the one I was in. It was originally just a gimmick item the Master Hand created to give fighters a spectacular "finishing move" that would make crowds go wild. I wasn't in the 4_ _th_ _tournament but I had learned that they changed the smash ball. When someone was in possession of one, their power increased. They became better, faster and stronger, like something from those Japanese animes. But that power…was too much. A lot of the fighters got a rush out of it like it was a drug. It seemed that the fighters that were "pure of heart" were not corrupted by the smash balls' powers. But the others, even some that were considered to be "heroes" would fall victim to it. Those fighters started acting different, some were acting violent. I feared that if something wasn't done about this there would be dire consequences. I talked to the man…or hand…in charge. I pleaded with Master Hand that the Smash balls were trouble, but he told me I was just being paranoid. Yeah he was right. I was being paranoid. But being paranoid doesn't mean that you're wrong. He figured that out shortly after, and in the worse way possible. News of fighters raiding factories that produced Smash balls began to surface only a few days later. The fighters not suffering megalomania all left the roster, fearing the worst. Very smart move on their part. During this time I had secluded myself in the mountains, and was able to see all of Smashville from my binoculars. And that's where I would get a front row seat to the "Final Smash". Several of the fighters, powered by smash balls and ego, showed up in front of the arena in a standoff. The wanted to prove who the most powerful fighter was, and they wanted to defeat Master Hand to prove it. There was Mario, Bowser, Bowser's kids, Toon Link, Ganondorf, Little Mac, Samus, Donkey Kong, Wario, Mega Man, Shulk, Falco, Dedede, Meta Knight, Sonic, and others I can't remember, all circled to face each other. Bowser turned into Giga Bowser and Ganondorf turned in Ganon, his true form. The others were just as strong as the two monsters though, as the balls' powers let them unleash ultimate attacks. There was no consideration for their surroundings, as they leveled cities and killed innocent people from collateral damage. Master Hand finally showed himself, and I watch as he transformed into a being unlike any other. All I can describe it as was black matter that could change forms at will. I call it the Master Core. He started as a giant, than he turned into a monstrous dog, then about 5 swords, and then shape shifted into dark matter versions of the other fighters. He killed many during the fight, but it seemed he felt like he wasn't going to win. The black matter went away and from it emerged a sphere that looked so similar to a Smash ball. The sphere floated in the air, flashed a few times and finally exploded with the power of a nuke. The force of it threw me against a boulder, and I hit my head against it. I lost consciousness afterwards. Don't know how long I was out, but when I woke up I got my first look at what is now known as the Smash Wasteland. Some places were affected by the battle less than others, but overall everything was a shithole._

 _That was 7 years ago. And those seven years I have traveled these wastelands. Some survivors have made settlements from the ashes of destroyed cities, hoping things will go back to the way they use to be. You've got people who are barely getting by, and you've got the raiders and the bandits. They're the scum of the lawless wastelands, killing people for supplies or just for the hell of it. I've killed everyone that ever tried to fuck with me. As for me…I'm just a man looking to survive. I'm no bandit, but I'm no Samaritan. The only thing I care about is staying alive, and in order to do that you got to be strong and well equipped. The wastes is a place where only the strong prosper, and if you're not strong…then you're probably dead. I certainly hope that any of the fighters that weren't involved in the battle lived and learned that. I've haven't ever come across any of them during my travels…_

 _Well I guess that's all I can say. Oh looks like I forgot to mention who I am. I personally don't think a name means much anymore but what the hell. My name is Solid Snake, and I'm a wasteland survivor._


	2. Supply Run

After the end, Snake had bunkered himself down at Shadow Moses Island, one of the stages that was used when Smash tournaments were still happening. It was now back to being like the nuclear disposal facility Snake had come to know. It was more or less his home, and a well-fortified one at that. It was surrounded by a blizzard, which proved useful at keeping any intruders away. It was also stacked with supplies. Food, water, shelter and guns. The four things you need. But after so many years, supplies are finally starting to become thinner.

" _Got no choice. I'm gonna have to go out on a supply run."_

Snake geared up for his upcoming trip to wasteland. He wore his sneaking suit used in the Shadow Moses incident. It protected him from the elements, and physical harm. He put on a back pack that'd let him take and store as much supplies as he could. In previous runs he would grab just about anything he found. Sometimes he wondered if he had klepto problems. Regarding weaponry Snake carried a trusty M4 Custom Assault Carbine and a SOCOM Mk23 Handgun. Now he was strapped up and ready to go into the unpredictable wastes.

* * *

" _I have not missed this place."_ Snake thought to himself after getting out of Shadow Moses territory. This place looked like a desert, but not because of the temperature. This place was baron, void of anything comforting. There was no grass, no flowers, and the blackened trunks of destroyed trees. Snake continued trekking forward, eventually finding a corpse of a dead wastelander. These were pretty common, more or less are a part of the environment now. He searched the body, seeing if it might have any supplies.

" _Nothing."_ He cursed as he rummaged through the pockets of the dead man. Finding nothing, he continued onwards. Eventually, Snake stumbled across two bandits fighting with each other. He decided to hide and watched as things played out.

"You promised us good weapons! We gave you the food, where the fuck are the weapons?!" The rough looking bandit asked threatening the other at gunpoint.

"Look! Look! Please! Just give us a day! T-t-two days tops! I give you my word we'll have the weapons to you by then!" The other bandit pleaded.

"Your word doesn't mean shit to me! Deals off!" He yelled and blew the other bandits brains out with his pistol.

"That's a nice gun." Snake whispered in the bandit's ear. The bandit snapped around to look at Snake, only to have a knife thrust into his gut.

"I'll be sure to take good care of it." He said taking the pistol from the bandit as he fell to his knees.

"B-b-bastard…" The bandit barely managed to mutter. Snake pulled the knife out of the bandit's torso and slit his throat to finish him off. Cleaning the blood off of his knife, Snake searched both the dead bandits for their possessions. Got ammo, a gun, and food. Definitely a good find.

" _I'm glad to see bandits are killing each other and not always focusing on the locals. Anyway I got what I wanted. Time to keep moving."_

"You think you can just go around killing our men?" A threatening voice roared.

" _Well Shit"_

Snake turned around and was surrounded by three bandits, and their clothes showed that they were part of the same gang as the bandit he just killed. The leader of the group, who was taller and stronger than the other two, standing at 7,0 ft, walked towards Snake and stared him down.

"You think you can just go around traveling these parts and do whatever you want? No consequences?" The man asked Snake who simply remained silent.

"Nope…that's what we do. We own the wasteland motherfucker!"

"And who exactly is "we"

"You've been livin' under a rock or some shit? We're the Red Dead Raiders!"

"Oh yeah, real scary. Can you cut the bullshit? Are you gonna kill me or are you trying to send a message?"

"Ya hear that boys!? We got us a feisty one!" The raider taunted. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do old man? We're gonna do both!"

"Wrong answer." Snake replied confusing the large man. With a swift snap kick Snake broke the bandit's leg, making him cry out in agony. He pulled the bandit towards him and used him as a human shield against the other two. Snake took a sawed-off shotgun from the Raider's holster and killed the other bandits with two shots. He then threw his crippled human shield on to the dirt, as he had finished serving his purpose.

"YOU SUNNUVABITCH!"

Snake walked over to the other two bandits he killed and began looting their corpses right in front of their comrade.

"Don't you steal from my friends you bastard!"

"Why don't you come over here and do something about it?" Snake challenged.

The bandit could only respond with a frustrated sigh.

"Your friends sure do have a lot of good gear on them." Snake joked, infuriating the raider. "You know this wouldn't have happened if you didn't give me the big speech on who you were and what you do. That just gave me time to plan out my attack. You should've just shot me on sight."

"Fuck off! I don't need your advice!"

"Well ok then. Time to see what kind of gear you got." Snake said and pointed his pistol at the man's head.

"OH GOD PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE!" The raider begged. Snake couldn't help but laugh at how much of a coward this "tough" bandit turned out to be.

"Well you did say please…alright I'll let you live but I'm still taking your gear."

"That's fine! Take it!" The bandit complied and began tossing his possessions. Snake double checked to see if he had anything hidden on him, and decided he was clean.

"So how far is your crew's base?"

"About a few miles. Why you askin'?"

"No reason. Just want to wish you luck on crawling all the way back over there." Snake reminded the bandit and left him to his fate.

* * *

It was getting dark, the worst time to be wandering the wastelands at night. Snake had his flashlight on and looked for a place to set up camp. As he walked forward his foot hit something, making him point his pistol and flash light at the ground. Upon examination it was a corpse of a Koopa…and it was fresh. He looked forward and saw three more corpses, all Koopas. And then he heard crying, coming from behind a rock. He quietly moved towards it, gun and flashlight at the ready. He then began to circle around the rock without making a sound. He was sure he was about to see the source of the noise. He dashed in front of the suspect with his gun raised. "FREEZE!"

"AAAAAAH! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

 _Another Koopa? And a little girl at that._

Snake lowered his weapon, deeming her as not a threat.

"Please! Don't!" The little girl kept crying.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you…as long as you don't try to hurt me that is. Who are you?"

"M-My name is…Katy." The girl answered.

"I'm assuming you were with them?" Snake gestured towards the corpses. She simply nodded as tears kept going down her eyes.

"They family?"

She nodded her head again.

"What happened? Raiders?"

"No…monsters. We were on a supply run, and on our way back we were attacked by those things." She recalled.

 _Monsters? I've encountered a fair share of creatures and abominations during my travels. Wonder which ones did this. Wild Pokémon? Chain Chomps? Lizaflos? I guess it doesn't matter._

"You were on a supply run? Are you from a settlement?"

"Yes. I'm from the Koopa Keep."

"Heard of it, but I've never been there before."

"It's a few miles west of here. Do you…you think you can take me back there?"

The question struck Snake with a decision, a moral decision.

 _It's just another sob story of the wastes. You've heard plenty, you don't have to take care of everyone. It's hard enough taking care of yourself._

 _Look at her! She's just a kid! She is not going to make it alone! God only knows how she was the only one to survive the attack, but she's not going to get lucky twice. If she dies, her blood will be on your hands!_

 _Let's look at this from a practical standpoint. It's only a few miles, you can make that trip no problem. And if you're able to get her to safety, it will definitely gain you approval among that settlement. They may even give you supplies as a reward._

"All right Katy, come with me. We'll find a place to camp for the night and then we'll head to Koopa Keep." Snake decided.

"Thank you!" She cried and hugged Snake's leg.

"Alright enough! Let's get moving." He insisted.

"By the way sir, what's your name?"

"It's Snake. Solid Snake."


	3. Journey to Koopa Keep

Before beginning their journey, Snake took a look at the dead Koopas and something came to mind.

"Katy?"

"Yes?"

"Before the…"monsters" attacked, did you and your group manage to get some supplies?"

"Yeah we did. We were actually going back home. Why?"

"I think we're gonna need to finish what they started. Besides, I'm sure you and your people will find some comfort knowing that they didn't die for nothing."

"Yeah…you're right." She mumbled. He looked over to the girl and could tell that she didn't feel comfortable with the idea of rummaging through the corpses of her family.

"You can wait here. I'll pick up the supplies."

"Thank you."

Snake searched the backpacks of each Koopa. It looked like they were going to return with a pretty good haul. Good amount of food, water, ammunition and medicine. He picked up each of their weapons, all being 9mm Pistols, and put them in his bag. He noticed each body had a necklace on them, each having a strange insignia.

"What are these necklaces that they're wearing?" Snake asked the girl.

"Those? They're our family pendants. It's something to identify us by."

"Sounds a lot like dog tags…you want me to bring them?"

"If you don't mind…it'd be nice to have something to remember them with."

"Very true." Snake thought. Ever since the incident, almost all records of history have been lost. Now it's hard to even record history of the events that happen in the wastes. Nobody has the time to make a history book. If you die, then your legacy dies with you. The only one that can really tell your story is your friends…if they're not dead already. But with something like a dog tag, at the very least your name will live on.

"I think I've got everything. Let's move Katy."

* * *

It was already getting dark when he found Katy, so they were only able to travel a few hours before it was midnight. Snake knows from experience that you do not travel after midnight.

"This is as far as we go for now. I'm going to set up camp and then we'll continue in the morning."

Snake quickly set up a campfire and a tent. Just what you needed to get through a night. He cooked some meat on the campfire and filled his stomach. He looked over to Katy, who didn't seem right.

"How long has it been since you ate?"

"Uh…yesterday morning." She answered.

"You should've said something. Here, you want some of this?" He asked showing her the meat.

"Uh no thanks, I'm a bit of a picky eater. Don't really like things straight off a fire."

"You can't afford to be like that out here in the wastes kid." He warned her. "Food isn't a luxury like it used to be. You got to be willing to eat whatever you can find."

"I know. You're right." She frowned.

"I guess I can make an exception this time. Here, take this." He said tossing her one of his rations.

"What is this?"

"It's a MRE. A "Meal Ready to Eat" He explained. "Perfect survival food. And the container it's in makes sure that it never spoils."

She took a bite of the food and very much enjoyed it. "This is great!"

For the next several minutes the two of them ate their meals in silence. After they finished, Katy had some questions.

"Uh Mr. Snake? Do you really think it's safe for us to be sleeping out here? What if the monsters find us? They'll kill us in our sleep!"

"Don't worry. You'll be sleeping. I'm going to stay up and be on watch and kill anything or anyone that threatens us."

"You'll stay up all night? Don't you need to sleep too?"

"I've gone without sleep for most of my life. Sometimes it's because I've been on missions that required it, and sometimes it's because of nightmares."

"Oh. Do you get bad dreams of monsters coming to get you too?" Katy asked with child-like innocence. Snake's nightmares stemmed from PTSD from his time spent in warzones, and sometimes he _was_ the monster in those dreams. Nevertheless…

"Uh…yeah…that's it. Those are my nightmares." He lied as he lit a cigarette. "Also, we need to establish some ground rules if we're going to be traveling together. Understand kid?"

"I understand. What are the rules?"

"First, you will do what I say, when I say it, no questions asked. Okay?" To which she nodded.

"Second, if we run into any trouble you're need to run away from the area until I make sure everything is safe. I don't want to have to worry about you getting caught in the crossfire." And again she nodded in understanding.

"Finally, always follow me. Do not stray away from the path. Do not wander off on your own! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now go ahead and get some rest. We got a busy day tomorrow." Snake finished and began keeping watch.

Morning came and the two immediately began heading to Koopa Keep. What to expect on the way there was unknown, but Snake didn't think it would be anything he couldn't handle. He took point as Katy followed him from behind.

"Mr. Snake? There's something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"What is that metal thing pointing out of your head? It looks like a horn."

Snake stopped in his tracks at the question.

 _Metal thing? Oh…that thing! Damn, that happened seven years ago. I forgot about it cause no one ever actually asked me about it._

"That's a piece of shrapnel Katy. It got lodged into my head when the Final Smash happened."

"You were there? Where it happened?"

"Yes I was. I think I was the only one in fact. But yeah when the Master Core exploded it sent this piece of shrapnel into my head."

"Why don't you take it out?"

"Cause it would probably kill me if I did."

"Doesn't it hurt though?"

"Well…not anymore."

"Ok then."

Minutes of silence went by, before Katy asked another question.

"So, can you tell me anything about the "Final Smash"?"

"I could." Snake said intentionally being vague. He did not follow up, prompting the girl Koopa to ask…

"Are you going to?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Snake was getting somewhat irritated with the child being persistent on the subject.

"Because I'm trying to focus on getting us to Koopa Keep so I'm trying to keep a clear head. Talking about the event that was the downfall and destruction of the world really doesn't help."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Let's just keep moving."

Several hours went by, and the two wanderers were getting very close to their destination.

"I recognize this area!" Katy said.

"You do?"

"Yeah, this area is only about an hour away from Koopa Keep."

"Well let's not waste any…what was that?"

He heard something. Something was moving, something was watching them.

"What was wh-"

"SHHH! Be quiet!"

He heard more movement. He was trying to figure out what the source was based off the sound of the footsteps. He must've of heard it somewhere before. Then he heard a chomping sound and he finally realized it was Kremlins.

"KATY HIDE!" He ordered as 3 Kremlins jumped from hiding. Readying his rifle he fired and put a bullet right between one's eyes, killing it instantly. The other two dashed to the side, circling him. One came from behind and grabbed Snake. He broke free from its grasp and stabbed it in the throat with his knife, blood now gushing from that area. Two Kremlins remained, and he readied his rifle and turned to aim at one. One of them was closer than he expected and slapped his rifle out of his hands. Snake dodged the Kremlin's swipe attacks, and performed a spinning kick to its stomach, knocking it back at good distance. Snake pulled out his pistol and shot that Kremlin dead. The last one got the drop on Snake. Tackling him to the ground and pinned him, knocking his pistol out of his hand in the process. The Kremlin was attempting to slice Snake's throat with his claw, but Snake was holding his arm back. Snake's resistance was slowly wearing away, and he could not overpower the vicious gator. To his luck, Katy decided to come out of hiding, and rammed into the Kremlin on top of him with her shell, knocking him off. Reacting quickly, Snake pinned the Kremlin down. His usual weapons were not nearby, so he grabbed a big rock and continuously smashed it on his opponents' face. After about a minute, Snake had reduced the creature face to a bloody pulp, with much of its blood on his face.

"I think it's dead." Katy pointed out. Snake then snapped the croc's neck for good measure, much to the shock of Katy.

"You always need to be sure." He said, describing his actions. "By the way…you did disobey one of our ground rules back there…but I'd probably be dead if you didn't. So thanks."

The young girl smiled at him but looked a little bit frightened still. Probably because of all the blood on the man's face.

"Mr. Snake, you might want to wash your face." She recommended. He rubbed his finger on his face and finally notice there was Kremlin blood all over it.

"Yeah that's a good idea."

* * *

Surviving the rough encounter with the Kremlins, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. They were finally at the entrance to Koopa Keep. The two Koopa guards at the front saw Snake and raised their guns.

"Stay where you are or we'll shoot! Who are you?"

"No don't shoot! He's with me!" Katy pleaded with the guards.

"Katy? Where's your group? Where's your family?" The guard asked. Katy could only frown and her eyes started to water up. In order to make explanations simpler, Snake simply pulled out the pendants of the fallen Koopas.

"Oh…I see." The guard said swallowing the bad news.

"Don't worry, we brought back the supplies that they had picked up." Snake informed them.

"Alright stay where you are. I need to radio this in."

Snake watched the one guard speak into the radio, though unable to hear what he was saying. Seemingly finished with the conversation, the guard walked back towards them.

"Ok, Katy come inside, we'll get you taken care of. As for you." The Koopa pointed to Snake. "Follow me. The sheriff wants to speak with you.

* * *

 **For those who follow me and are reading this and are curious on the state of Snake the Handyman, don't worry, it's still alive and I'm working on it.**

 **Now I'd like a little bit of feedback from you readers on trying something new. I have never written an M rated story before. I've avoided doing so because I've noticed that by default when you browse through the fanfic pages that any M rated stories are filtered out. Basically, I'm worried people who don't know about the story won't see it when they look through the SSB fics.**

 **But with this story I want to go the whole 9 yards. Meaning I want to be able to put in some really dark subject matter without the possible risk of this getting reported for stepping outside the T rating. This story is a post-apocalyptic drama, so I feel that it's kind of necessary for there to be mature subject matter. And no, I'm not talking about being able to include hardcore sex or any shit like that. So if you can let me know either through a PM or a review on whether I should bump this up to an M rating or even if I'm wrong about people not being able to see M rated stories I'd really appreciate it.**


	4. Existence

The guard escorted Snake to a small cabin in the city. The guard motioned for him to go in. Entering the shack, Snake sees the back of a pretty large Koopa. He turned around and took a look at Snake.

"Yep. You definitely are Solid Snake."

"You know who I am?" Snake asked.

"I've been around for a while. I was around during the third tournament and watched you compete there. That's how I know your name."

"Well I don't know yours." Snake remarked.

"Oh I'm sorry. The name's Murphy. I'm the sheriff around here. I'm also the mayor when I need to be."

"I see. So what do want from me?"

"As I understand it, you have the pendants of Katy's family, correct?"  
Snake nodded in response.

"Would you please hand them to me?" The Sheriff requested and extended his hand. Snake reached into his back pocket and pulled out the pendants, dropping them in the hands of the sheriff.

"I also got everything they collected before they died in this bag." Snake said and put the bag on the ground.

"I'm glad you picked these up. Without these history would've forgotten their names." Murphy pondered.

"Names don't really mean a whole lot anymore." Snake cynically stated.

"There's some truth to that. You would know a lot about that given the amount of names you've earned."

"What are you talking about?"

"You haven't heard? In these seven years after the end of the world you haven't heard the titles you've been given by bandits and villagers?"  
Snake shook his head in response.  
"To some you're called _The Hidden, The Hero of the Wastes,_ and _The Lone Warrior_. Many of these people applaud you for your slaying of several villainous groups such as bandits, raiders, monsters and slavers. But to your enemies, you're called _The One Horned Devil,_ a man who knows only how to kill, and some simply think that you're death itself."

"Whatever. If people want to make me out to be some heroic legend or the boogeyman, I don't care. I do what I do with my best interest in mind. Not for anyone else."

"And I understand that completely. It's a mentality that is often necessary to survive out there. But that brings me to this question. Why did you save Katy?" Murphy asked. Snake was taken back by this question. It wasn't so much surprising that he asked the question, but it was because Snake did not have a very clear answer to that question.

"Did you do it with the intention of doing what you thought was right, or did you do it because you somehow thought that you would get a reward out of it?"

Moments of silence went by, not a word came out of Snake's mouth, who looked like he was struggling to find an answer.

"Look I don't care what your reason was. I won't be angry or anything, I'm just interested in what your answer.

"This is going to sound like bullshit…" He began. "but I honestly don't know. I just, decided to do it. I operate on instinct and I guess instinct told me to save that kid. That probably makes no sense does it?"

Murphy let out a friendly chuckle. "Actually no. I can understand that." He said. "Maybe since you've saved so many people on your missions it just became second nature to you."

Snake was surprised that he had no problem with that answer. "Maybe you're right." He said.

"Alright you've given me answers, so it's only polite that I return the favor. You got any questions for me?" The sheriff asked.

"Actually yeah. I've heard of this place but I don't know anything about it other than the name. Can you tell me about it?"

"You bet. Follow me. I'll give you a tour."

Snake and Murphy left the shack and began walking and talking in the settlement.

"When the Final Smash destroyed most of the world, it also killed Bowser in the process. After that, a lot of Koopas were confused, didn't know what to do."

"Why is that?" Snake asked.

"Bowser was in charge for most of the people here's lives. He was their king, and he was always giving them orders so that he could get one step closer to getting in Princess Peach's pants."

"I don't want to think about that…"

"Well you get the idea. All these people knew was following orders. They weren't allowed to do anything else because Bowser scared them. So when Bowser died, those orders died with him. And then Koopas just had no idea of what to do because they never thought about life without Bowser."

"What about you?"

"Not all Koopas chose to follow Bowser's regime. I was one of them. I got to travel the world, go on adventures and see just what life had in store. Then the world ended, and I saw all these clueless Koopas just wandering the wasteland. A lot of them were getting killed because they didn't know anything about survival. I may not have lived with them most of my life, but in the end the Koopas are my family. So I rounded as many of them as I could up into a little settlement and showed them the ways of life. Gave them a new purpose." Murphy reflected.

"Seems like you've done a pretty good job." Snake said.

"I appreciate it." Murphy chuckled. "So that's my story. I've settled down from the life of a wasteland wanderer. You're still going at it though. So how's life of being survivor man?"

"Well I'm sure you know from experience that it never gets boring. Though that's not to say it's a life of glory. You see interesting things, experience interesting events, but you never forget that death is always behind your shoulder."

"I can relate to that. Though is there anything else you hope to accomplish out there? Any goals?"

Snake pondered on the question. Again it was a first for him.  
"Well I know that before the Final Battle, some of the other fighters that didn't get corrupted fled town before things got blown to hell. I'm hoping someday that I'll run into one of them. If they're still alive that is."

"I'm sure that there are some still alive. I've heard some reports that might suggest that be the case."

"Is that so? Go on."

"Well there have been sightings of Hylians going on patrol routes. One report stated that among them was a man wielding a sword in a green tunic. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who that is."

"Of course not. Anything else?"

"Well there's also been sightings of Toads searching for supplies. If they do have a settlement somewhere then I know only one person that could be in charge of the Toads. Other than that I'm afraid I've got nothing else for you."

"That's fine. That's actually pretty helpful more than anything. I appreciate it."

"Glad I could help." Murphy said before moving on to another subject. "Now knowing that you're kind of a drifter, I'm assuming that you'll be leaving soon, right?"

"Yeah that's what I had in mind." Snake confirmed. "It's not like I don't like your town, it's just how I am."

"No need to explain your reasoning to me. I'd just thought that since you did a good thing for my people, I should return the favor. I want you to have this." Murphy then put a bag in front of Snake.

"These are the supplies that Katy's family picked up." Snake said upon examination. "These belong to your people."

"Yes but I'm sure that Katy's family would agree with me that you should be rewarded with them for saving her life. Also, here's a personal present from me."

Murphy pulled out a polished .44 Magnum Revolver and handed it to Snake.

"Wow! This thing sure is a beauty." Snake said admiring the handgun's craftmenship.

"It's a favorite of mine. I think it's something that would greatly aid any wasteland traveler."

Snake could remember old Revolver Ocelot going on a tangent about how great revolvers are. Though they could be annoying at times, he was always right. He then opened the cylinder to check the guns ammo.

 _It's got six bullets. More than enough to kill anything that moves._

"And with that, I say goodbye and wish you luck on your travels. It's been a pleasure." The Koopa smiled.

"Likewise Murphy." He said and shook the sheriff's hand.

Having been settled back in her home, Katy went outside looking for Snake late at night. She couldn't see him anywhere in town, so she went to see Murphy, who told her that he had just left. She made it to the front gate but was unable to catch Snake in time, and only saw him from the back, heading into the wasteland. Though she didn't get to say goodbye, she would always remember the lone warrior that saved her from certain death.

Snake sat by the campfire he just built, pondering about the "reports" Murphy told him about regarding the possible location of some of the other fighters. From what he was told, he figured Link and Princess Peach are very likely to still be alive. And though it might be a bit of a stretch, he figured that if Link was alive commanding patrols, then Princess Zelda may still be alive. Though he began thinking to himself what exactly he was hoping to accomplish by reuniting with the other fighters. What would he even say to them? It's been seven years. He's now in his fifties and has grey hair, so would they even recognize him? He never really had a lot of "friends" throughout his life, but there were a good amount of fighters from the Smash tournaments that sure did grow on him. He never would have thought that someone like him and Princess Peach would become friends. He was a cynical, jaded old soldier with a history of bloodshed. She was very much like the typical "fairy tale" princess. She was kind, caring and only saw the good in others. She was the polar opposite of him. They saw the world through two very different perspectives, yet they got along very well. Snake just could not deny that there was some kind of friendship that he shared with some of the other fighters. It's been so long since he felt that feeling. The feeling of having friends and hanging out with those friends. Instead, he had spent these seven years doing his best to isolate himself from the rest of the world.

 _Damn it! Why am I thinking about this so damn much?!_

What was supposed to be a simple supply run has turned into something much different. Now he began to question what his motive were for the past seven years. It was very simple, his motive was to survive. But for what? Survive in hopes of finding a better future? No! You can't just hope that a better future will come along. You have to go out and try to make that future yourself. That was the whole purpose of him and Otacon's activities in their group Philanthropy. He would fight for a future where there was no Metal Gears to threaten the world. Back then he felt like what he was doing meant something. Now he feels like his very existence is one without meaning. Then he thought about his most recent events with Katy. When he saved her, he felt like he a sense of meaning. Maybe that's why he just decided to rescue her even when his survivalist mentality said otherwise. As he sat there, near a fire in the middle of the wasteland, he wondered what he would do next. All he knew is that whatever was to come next wouldn't be boring.


	5. The Bounty

_Seems like a lot has happened since the last time I explored the wasteland. Or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Apparently I've earned a reputation throughout the wastes. The civilians think that I'm some sort of mysterious hero that stops the forces of evil before disappearing for a while. To the bandits and raiders, I'm a demon, with the shrapnel lodged in my head symbolizing a horn. I never thought about any of this throughout my travels, yet it seems that even though most of the worlds advanced communication technology has been lost, word still gets around. I guess I'm pretty stupid for thinking that wasn't the case. Well you learn something new every day I guess._

"HEY YOU! FREEZE! HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD!"

 _Oh great. This is just what I needed._

"Just turn around slowly and give us your stuff. You do that, and we won't kill your sorry ass." A man demanded.

 _We? So there's more than one of them. Alright, time to turn around so I can analyze the situation and figure out how I'll kill all of them._

Snake followed the man's orders and turned to see 4 bandit's pointing their guns at him. Though as soon as he turned around, they all began to look frightened.

"O-O-Oh my god! It's him!"

"The one horned devil!"

"Drop your weapons guys! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

"But Boss! Isn't there a big bounty on his head?"

"Fuck that! We can't get the money if we're all dead! Now RUN!" The boss ordered as the four of them ran from Snake. Snake pulled out his pistol and aimed for one of the bandits. He had a perfect shot, and he could easily kill them with four well placed shots. But…

 _It'd be easy to kill them…but they're running away. Seems like a waste of bullets to kill guys that aren't really threatening me. I'll let them live as a reward for being smart enough to choose their battles._

Snake put the pistol back into his holster.  
 _I guess having a reputation of being a demon has its perks._

After the ordeal with the cowardly bandits, Snake continued his travels.

 _One of them said something about a bounty on me. Apparently it's a big one at that. Who would put a bounty on me? What am I saying, a lot of people and groups would like to have me dead, given the amount of scum I've killed over the years. I just need to figure out which one. Better be careful though. While those bandits may have been too scared of me, there's a good amount of hitmen and bounty hunters in the wastes. All of them are stone cold killers, and would definitely have the balls to fight me one on one. Having one of the other fighters with me would definitely give me a better chance of survival. As for now I'll just have to lay low._

Nighttime had arrived. Instead of the usual routine of making a campfire, he decided to travel at night. The darkness has always been one of his allies, given his specialization in stealth ops. He was lucky that he still had both his Night-Vision Goggles and Thermal Goggles. Now he had the upper hand over any possible attackers. Crouch walking and moving from cover to cover, He eventually saw a group of 5 men traveling with flashlights. Hiding behind a large boulder, Snake assessed the situation.

 _Five of them. They can't be bandits, they're too well armed. They've got to be mercs. One had a shotgun, 12 gauge. The others looked like they had assault rifles, five-five-sixers. I think I can listen in on what they're saying. Maybe I can find out what they're doing out here._

Hiding behind the rock, he waited as the mercs passed right by them. Quietly, he followed them as they spoke with each other.

"Hey boss? Don't you think we should find a place to rest for the night?"

"No can do. Intel tells me that he travels during the day, but he sleeps by a campfire at night. If we can find that campfire, we'll find him. And then we can kill that bastard in his sleep."

 _Yeah they're definitely looking for me. I could just let sneak away from them, but I'm sure they'll find me eventually. Better kill them right here one by one._

Sneaking up behind the guard farthest back from the group, Snake put him in a CQC chokehold, covering his mouth as he snapped his neck. Moving on to the next one, he put the merc in a chokehold, this time stabbing him in the throat. For the next one he pulled out a suppressed handgun. He shot the third one in the head for an instant kill. Unfortunately, Snake forgot to consider the noise that would be made by the bullet casing hitting the ground. The last two mercs heard it, and quickly turned around. Their flashlights pointed right at him.

"THERE HE IS!"

 _SHIT!_

As the two mercs opened fire, Snake dived behind the nearest cover he could find. The two mercs circled around the rock he hid behind. One of them popped in front of Snake. Snake dashed towards the man and stripped him of his weapon, using it to kill him. The last merc opened fire, one of the bullets hit Snake in the back, making him grunt in pain. The gun he was holding was out of ammo, so he threw it into the merc's face, stunning him. Snake sprinted forward and tackled him. The man kicked Snake off and they both got up, ready to fight hand to hand.

"How about you and I finish this like men? No guns! No blades! Just the weapons that God gave us." The mercenary challenged. The easiest thing to do would be to just pull out his pistol and shoot the man. Though Snake had a sort of warriors pride and code of honor. So against his better judgement, he decided to take the man up on his challenge.

"All right fine!"

The two men dashed towards each other. The mercenary threw the first few punches. Snake blocked each one, and countered with a hard right cross to the stomach. He did a spinning roundhouse kick towards his head, but the mercenary sidestepped and avoided the attack. The mercenary hit Snake with a big boot to the midsection, knocking him to the ground. He attempted to follow up the attack with a jumping elbow drop. Snake rolled out of the way, and his opponent landed back first on the hard ground. As the man began to get up, he was surprised as he was hit from the side with a hard dropkick. He slowly tried to get back on his feet after the powerful hit he took. Snake would not give him the chance to pull himself together, and got behind him and wrapped his arms around the man's waist. Using his strength, Snake performed a devastating German suplex on his opponent. The man was reeling as the back of his head hit the ground. Feeling that he could go for the final attack, Snake forced the man to his feet and put him in a chokehold, and began strangling him. Surprisingly, this mercenary still had plenty of fight left in him. He landed two hard hitting elbows to Snake's ribs, forcing him to break the chokehold. He turned and knocked Snake to the ground with a devastating right hook to the face. Now the mercenary had the upper hand. Snake got back to his feet but wouldn't be there for long as the mercenary instantly rammed into Snake with a shoulder bash, putting Snake on his back. Feeling arrogant, the merc let Snake get back to his feet, then smacked him in the face with a strong left hook. Snake reeled back but did not fall to the ground like his opponent thought he would. Instead, Snake struck back with an even stronger right hook. Then the man struck back in a similar fashion. The two combatants continued to trade blows with each other for about a minute. Snake finally broke the cycle with a fierce uppercut to the jaw. Knocking the man up in the air and making him fall on his back. The two men had been going at it for half an hour. Exhausted, Snake fell to his knees to take a rest as his opponent was on his back, not looking like he was getting back up anytime soon. Getting back to his feet, Snake walked over to his fallen opponent. His face was bleeding around the eyes, and even coughed up some blood.

"So what they've said is true. You're just like a demon in battle."

"Just save it! I've got some questions. Who put the bounty on me?"

"Who? That's something both of us don't know. I never care for who places the bounty. All that mattered to me was the pay."

 _Typical mercenary…_

Snake stood back up and began to walk away.

"You'd better watch yourself demon. There's others like me and my crew out there looking for you! You may be able to defeat a few more, but eventually they will be too much for you and you will d-"

Snake cut the mercenary off with a pistol shot to the head. He turned and left to but after a while he began to feel a sharp pain in his back.

 _Damn! That hurts! What's…oh wait. That's right I got hit with a bullet in the fight. Fuck! It's still in there. I'm going to have to remove it._

Snake pulled out his survival knife. He took off the upper part of his suit and began to treat his bullet wound. He dug the knife into the wound, causing him to yell in pain. After what felt like forever, he dug the bullet out. He applied disinfectant and syptic spray onto the wound, both of which stung like hell. He took out a suture kit, and began stitching the wound.

 _C'mon this is the last painful part! There we go!_

Finally closing the wound, Snake finished his treatment by wrapping a bandage around his torso. He put his suit back on, but couldn't get himself to continue moving. As much as he didn't want to, he couldn't help but fall asleep, completely drained of energy after performing first aid. He laid down and lost consciousness.


	6. Search and Rescue

Snake woke up from his sleep in the morning and was surprised to see that nothing happened to him. He had passed out in the middle of the wastes. He expected that he would be captured or killed by some group wanting that bounty on his head.

 _I guess God decided to let me live another day. Can't let that happen again. I doubt I'll get lucky twice. Better start moving again._  
He got back to his feet, dusting off his suit and began traveling again, getting back to searching for Peach and Link. Problem was he didn't know where to look. The info Murphy gave him didn't give him a general location. So far he hasn't found a clue regarding their whereabouts. Though that wasn't going to last long. After traveling for 2 hours, he saw something familiar. It was a location where a massacre occurred. Though this was different from the one with the Koopas. These were corpses of Toads, and they weren't killed by monsters, the bullet holes all over the bodies made that clear. This was an ambush by one of the wasteland's scum groups. As tragic as it may be, the fact that they're Toads could give him a clue of where Peach is.

"Y-y-you there! C-c-come…h-here." A trembling voice beckoned to Snake.

 _A survivor?!_

Snake ran to the voice, and found a mortally wounded Toad, slumped up against a rock. Snake instinctively tried to stop the bleeding.

"Don't waste your time. I'm lung shot. I appreciate it but you can't save me." The dying Toad said.

"What the hell happened here?!"

"We w-were escort-t-ting Princess P-P-Peach. But we were ambushed by s-s-slavers." He struggled to explain.

"What about Peach? I don't see her around." Snake asked.

"T-t-they took her. Said they were going back to their slave camp north of here. Probably planning to sell her."

"Shit!" Snake cursed.

"Please sir…can you please carry out a dying Toads wish? P-p-please s-s-save h-h-her." The Toad begged as his time was running short.

"Don't worry, I'll save her." He promised the dying Toad.

"I-it's g-g-good to see that there are p-p-people l-l-like you…in…the…wasteland." The Toad said with his last breath.

 _They didn't deserve this. It's a shame this is how I found out where Peach's location is. And Slavers! They're the worst. The raiders and bandits at least just kill you. The slavers take people alive to camps to be beaten, dehumanized, and sold for profit. It's the worse place that Peach could be. Since that Toad was still alive, the slavers must have attacked recently. I can probably get Peach out of that camp in before they sell her. Better haul ass to that camp to the north._

The journey took the entire day, arriving at the campsite very late at night. This didn't look like your average campsite. This slave camp was fortified, heavily guarded with security guards patrolling. You wouldn't see this at any raider camp. The difference between the raiders and the slavers is that the slavers were considered to be businessmen by some. Those who think that are obviously the ones that do business with them. Slavers don't raid for to steal supplies, they don't need to. Instead they kidnap people and can just trade them for supplies. In a nutshell, Slavers can afford better weapons and security than any of the other groups.

Snake took out his binoculars and began scouting the camp. The perimeter was protected by a fence. He decided that he would enter by cutting through the fence, as taking the main entrance would just get him killed. The outside of the camp was the prison area. There were so many cages, and so many people trapped in them.

 _Peach must be in one of those._

After observing the patrol patterns of the guards, Snake began infiltrating.

 _Funny. Looking at this place, scouting it and sneaking into it feels so…nostalgic. Can't say I have a great track record when it comes to rescuing people. Doesn't matter, cause I am not going to fuck this up._

He stayed in the shadows and was in front of the fence. This camp had electricity and lights to brighten to prison camp. Not many dark places for him to hide once he got inside, but there were many crates laying around that he could hide behind. Still staying in the shadows, Snake looked at the cages, hoping to see Peach in one of them.

 _Damn it! I don't see her!_

He then noticed nearby two guards standing next to each other. He began listening in on their conversation.

"Hey, what happened to little princess that we captured earlier today? Don't see her in any of the cages."

"Don't worry. Davis had her moved to the indoor cell. She's not going anywhere." The guard said.

"Please! Let us go! Why are you doing this?!" A lady cried from her cell.

"Hey, go shut her up!" the guard ordered to the other. The other guard went up to woman and smacked her hard across the face. A male slave doing manual labor left his post and charged at the guard with fury.

"THAT'S MY WIFE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" the man roared. The guard pulled out a pistol and shot the man point blank in the head, killing him instantly. The man's wife burst into tears.

"Collins! What the hell! You can't be killing the slaves! That's our profit!" The commanding guard chewed him out.

"What? He was trying to kill me, it was either me or him."  
The commander let out a frustrated sigh.  
"Whatever, just get rid of his body. But I have to report this and you can bet it's coming out of your paycheck."

Snake had watched the events that just occurred. But that was all he could do…watch. As much as he wished that he could free the slaves, his priority was to get Peach out. Trying to save everyone was too risky and would only get him killed. It infuriated him, but he needed to stay focused. The one good thing to come out of that was Peach's location.

 _Inside the indoor cell. Thank God the buildings are labeled or this would be a pain in the ass._

Snake cut the fence with wire cutters, making space for him to crawl through. Now inside the outdoor prison area, he quickly took cover behind a crate. The indoor prison wasn't too far east of his location, so he went from cover to cover as he made his way there. He got close to the entrance but ran into a problem. A guard was standing in front of the door, and he wasn't going away. Snake could shoot him with his suppressed pistol, but if any guard saw his corpse, the place would be on full alert. He could use the old trick of making a noise to get him to move away from there, but he would have to deal with him as soon as he exited the building. Snake decided to try something different. He knocked on the crate, getting the guards attention. As planned, the guard began moving towards Snake's location. But he didn't sneak into the building, he stayed right where he was. As soon as the guard got close, Snake caught him in a strangle hold, in a perfect location too. They were behind crates, so none of the guards could see Snake as he broke the guard's neck. He lifted the guard over his shoulders, and rushed into the indoor cell.

Now inside the building, Snake dumped the corpse onto the ground. This room was rather small, and he couldn't hear any guards. However, he could hear a woman yelp in pain. Snake moved further into the room and found the source.

 _Peach?!_

He found her. She was on her knees and handcuffed. Her face was bloody and bruised, and her signature pink dress was gone, and she was instead clothed in rags. A guard was standing in front of her, definitely the cause of her injuries. In a burst of rage, Snake turned the guard around and punched him right in the throat, crushing his windpipe. The man fell to his knees, suffering as he couldn't breathe. Snake snapped his neck and killed him. He took the key to Peach's cuffs off of his corpse. Taking the cuffs off, he gently cupped his hands on Peach's cheeks.

"Peach. Peach!" Snake repeated trying to get her attention. She looked like she was unconscious, but her face began to show movement.

"W-who are you?" She muttered.

"Peach it's me. I'm gonna get you out."

She opened her eyes as best she could in her weakened state, and looked at the face of the man in front of her.

"S-Snake?"

A small smile grew on her face before she passed out in Snake's arms. Snake himself smiled briefly. It wasn't much of a reunion, but he had finally found one of his old friends alive. He stood up and carried her with him. It dawned on Snake that now he would have to find a way to get both of them out of them camp. Having to worry about a second person made this all the more difficult. He exited the building and looked around the camp, trying to find anything that could help him in some way. Just to his luck, he saw the power generator for the camp.

 _If I can destroy that, then that means lights out for the camp. Maybe then we can book it and get both of us out of here._

Snake reached into his bag and pulled out a frag grenade. With a perfect throw, it landed right next to the generator, destroying it upon exploding. The place went dark, and all the guards panicked. Snake turned on his night vision goggles and pulled out his pistol. One of the commanders pulled out a mega phone.

"ALL SECURITY STAFF! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY AN OUTSIDE SOURCE! GET INTO DEFENSIVE POSITION!"

The guards all focused on the outside of the camp.

 _They think a group of raiders is attacking them? Well this is going better than I thought._

Snake sprinted with Peach on his back to the exit. The panicking prisoner's cries disguised the sounds of his footsteps. He got to the exit and killed the two guards protecting it, allowing him an easy exit. He had done it. He rescued Peach and escaped without getting caught. Yet he still felt some bad feeling. After making it up to the hill where he did recon on the camp, he looked back to the camp and thought of the people being held there as slaves. He promised himself that one day, he would come back for the rest of the slaves.

Finding a nearby cave, Snake went inside to use it for shelter. He gently laid Peach down and began tending to her injuries.

 _Just some cuts and bruises on the face and back. Thank God it's just that._

As he healed her, Peach woke up opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first, but after a few seconds it cleared up, and she saw the face of her rescuer.

"Snake." She said sounding exhausted. "It really is you" she cheered and embraced him.

"It's good to see you too. And to see you awake. You're pretty banged up though."

"It's not that bad. At least n…AAAAH!" She cried in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Snake panicked.

"My…right shoulder. I think they injured it really bad."  
Snake quickly examined her right shoulder and determined the cause.

"It's dislocated." He concluded.

"Can you fix it?"

"Yeah…but…it's going to hurt."

The princess was frightened, but eventually pulled herself together.

"Ok."

"I'll have to pop it back in place. I'll try to do it as fast as I can but there's nothing I can really do about the pain. Are you ready?"  
She nodded in agreement. Snake focused both of his hands on her shoulder. Positioning them just right, he was able to pop it in place in one motion. Peach shrieked out in pain, tears coming down her eyes. Snake wrapped his arms around her hoping to calm her down.

"It's ok! It's ok! It's ok! It's all over. It's done." He repeated as she finally stopped screaming. She held on to him tightly as the pain went away.

"You…you actually came for me."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"How did you know where to find me?"

"One of the Toads that was with you. He told me before he died."

"Those poor guys…just goes to show how weak of a leader I am." She cursed at herself as tears began to come down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Snake asked as he wiped her tears.

"I wasn't strong enough to protect them. I couldn't save them or myself."

"Being a good leader doesn't have to do with physical strength princess." He stated. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant.  
"What really makes someone a good leader is their words."

"Words?"

"That's right. Many people say that actions speak louder than words but I disagree. Words and actions can speak at equal volume."

"Why's that?"

"You know the reason why those Toads have undying loyalty towards you? It's your words, your speeches. They give them inspiration, boost their morale. You make them feel good."

"But the ones that died…"

"They died with the intention of protecting you. That's what they wanted to do. I think for them that's the best way for them to go out. Fighting for the princess. As for strength, just take a look at me. I'm what you can consider to be strong, but do I really look like someone who can lead a large group of people? The answer is no." Snake lectured.

"The point I'm trying to make is that words can be just as powerful as the bullets in my gun. And you words are pretty damn strong."

Peach smiled at his compliment. "Thank you Snake."

"Alright, let's get some sleep. We'll figure out what to do tomorrow." Snake said and began to stand up.

"Wait don't leave!" Peach begged. Snake looked at her with confusion. "I…I want you to be close to me. I…I feel…safer."

Snake silently agreed to her request and sat back down next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. Snake was exhausted himself, and finally closed his eyes after she fell asleep.

 _Good night princess._

Morning came, and Snake opened his eyes. However what he saw didn't look good. A large group of men in armor surrounded him and Peach. Peach woke up and shrieked in fear, wrapping her arm around Snake's arm. He pulled out his pistol, fearing the worst. Then, a voice came from the crowd of soldiers.

"Well I'll be damned…"


	7. Reunion

"You all drop your weapons, and walk the hell away!" Snake threatened the troops that surrounded him and Peach.

"But you're outnumbered. What are you going to do if we don't?" The voice in the back asked.

"Then I swear I will kill as many of you as possible before I go down."

The voice in the back began to laugh. "Yep! You're definitely the Solid Snake."

"What?!" Snake was startled and lowered his weapon.

"Weapons down men, let me through." The man ordered, to which his troops obeyed. Snake waited as the troops made way for the man in the back. He knew his name, so Snake figured he must know him. It was there that a man in a green tunic stepped forward.

"L-Link!"

"It's been a damn long time Snake. Almost thought you were dead." Link greeted. "I'm also glad to see you to princess." He gestured to Peach.

It was Link alright, and the seven years that passed didn't hide that fact. He looked different, the most distinct feature being his facial hair, a small five-o-clock shadow.

"How did you find us?"

"The slave camp. I had a man scouting out the place. He told me he saw a man looking like a commando infiltrated the camp by himself. And he succeeded, getting Peach out as well. He followed you two back to this cave, then reported all of this back to me." The swordsman explained. "I've only met one nutcase that's even capable of pulling that off. So I came to see for myself."

Snake couldn't help but give a small laugh at Link's humor. Peach however, was not amused.

"Link you asshole! Why did you have to scare us like that?!" She raged and glared at him with daggers for eyes.

"Peach, it's ok…"

"No, no, no Snake. She's right. That wasn't exactly a great way to start a reunion after seven years. I'm very sorry Princess. I'll make it up to both of you! Come see." He said and motioned for them to follow him.

"Alright we'll be out, just give us a second." Snake then turned to face Peach and whispered. "Still feeling a little weak?" He asked her.

"I think I'll be fine." She claimed as she began to get up. "I think I can…walk…AH!"

Her feet gave out from under her and she began to fall. Luckily Snake caught her almost instantly.

"No. You still need to recover. Don't worry I got you." He assured her and put his arm under her shoulder to support her as the moved.

"Thank you."

The two then exited the cave, and were given a pleasant surprise when they got out. Link and his men had several horses ready for riding.

"Hopefully, you'll enjoy this present. You two will get an escorted ride with me and my men back to our settlement." Link smiled and present the gift.

"Horses in the wasteland. I must say in all the seven years I've traveled, this is a first." Snake laughed.

"Well maybe you'll experience another first. We got a horse ready for the both of you. You know how to ride one?"

"I'm glad to say that I do."

"Great! She's all yours." Link smiled and got on his horse. "We're ready when you two are."

Snake and Peach moved towards their horse. Link picked up on Peach's current state, and motioned to his men to help the two out. A guard held Peach as Snake got on the horse, and then two guards lifted Peach onto the horse, where she sat behind Snake, arms wrapped around his waist.

"We're ready." Snake confirmed.

"All right, you ride next to me. Ok men! Let's move!" Link commanded as they began the journey. "Zelda is going to be so happy to see you two again."

"Zelda!" Peach's face glowed with happiness from hearing the name of her good friend.

"Zelda? She's alive?!" Snake asked taken with surprise.

"Alive and well! I'll be damned if I was to outlive the person that I've sworn to protect."

"You two were always very close." Snake remembered.

"Sounds like you got a thing for her." Peach teased the Hylian.

"Yeah, a lot of people think that's the case. I prefer to think of our relationship as one of trust, respect and great friendship and only that." Link elaborated. "Then again I could just be bullshitting myself into thinking that's the case." He admitted with a smirk.

"I think I get you. Don't want personal feelings to get in the way of duty?"

"Something like that. Anyway, Zelda and I created the settlement for any surviving Hylians to live. She's in charge of the settlement itself while I'm Captain of the guards, taking care of any military-type of duties."

"Can't believe I never came across it."

"Seems like we've got some catching up to do Snake. Seven years is a long time."

"Guess you're right. Well for me there's nothing much to tell. I've just spent all these years in isolation, surviving day by day. This past week has been the most eventful in all this time."

"I see. Hey? Do you remember the last time we saw each other? You know…before everything went wrong."

Snake thought back, searching his memories of the time before the disaster. "I do. I remember you and a bunch of the other fighters got wise to the fact that shit was about to go down, so you all got the right idea and ditched town. I was there to see you all out and said my goodbyes."

"That's right. And I remember you refused to come with us, even though you knew more than any of us how bad things were. I asked you why and you said something about needing to "see things to the end". That was a pretty cryptic answer. I knew to not pry any further but now that you're here, you mind explaining to me what you meant? Why did you decide to stay near ground zero of the end of the world?"

Peach rose her head to look to Snake, she was curious for his reason as well. After all she was also a part of that group that left town. Snake sighed heavily, never thinking he would have to answer that question. It was a very complicated situation. His reasoning for staying behind would sound strange to most people and he wouldn't blame them if they called him an idiot. However he put the uncomfortable feeling aside and would try to explain as best as he could.

"I…I just felt that someone had to see what would happen. Someone had to see how the situation was going to play out. That bitter and ridiculous power struggle between those fighters. I felt like I was the one who should stay behind and watch. I was well aware that I could have been killed doing so, but I rather that I be the one to die than any of you. I thought my life was significantly less important than any of yours…and I still do."

"Oh Snake…" Peach nearly teared up.

"Link? Peach? Do either of you know exactly how the world ended?"

"It was an explosion right? A nuclear bomb or something?" Link inquired.

"I thought so too." Peach answered.

"There's some truth to that, but not completely. No, before the explosion happened, there was a battle…no…a war between the fighters obsessed with the Smash Ball's power. Their incredible power was so strong that I saw entire cities getting leveled by collateral damage."

"By the Goddesses!" Link muttered.

"And Link?"

"What?"

Snake paused for a moment, before breaking the news. "The kid…Toon Link…he was involved. He didn't make it. None of them did."

Link sighed heavily, distraught from the confirmation. "I had a feeling something happened to him. I didn't see very much of him during that time, and anytime that I did he was acting so strange. He wasn't himself." He thought back. "Snake I know that you were under the assumption that you were the only one among us that had a dark side, and that the rest of us, other than the villains of course, were true heroes. But you were mistaken. Me and Toon, and our ancestors before us that all wielded the Master Sword in the name of fighting evil, all had our dark sides. We've all had to fight with that dark side at some point…but I guess for Toon Link…his dark side won. That goes for all the other fighters. No matter how many good deeds we may do, we all have that dark side that can take over. None of us are perfect, and the Smash Balls showed it."

Snake had no objection to this claim, because it was a fact. A fact that he saw with his own eyes.

"I'm sorry, I interrupted you. So what happened afterwards? Where did the bomb come in?"

"Bomb?" Snake asked.

"Yeah. You know, the explosion." Link reminded him.

"Oh! Yeah this is where things are going to sound ridiculous." Snake warned causing Link and Peach to look perplexed. "The explosion…it wasn't a bomb. That explosion was Master Hand."

"What?!" Peach and Link exclaimed.

"Like you said, everyone has their dark side. The Hand was no different. He became overwrought with anger at what those fighters had become. And then he turned into some…thing…some monster created entirely of black matter and powered by hatred. And that beast final attack was to destroy itself and the world with it. Even I don't understand how it did that, but that's what I saw. That's what caused this horn to be shoved into my head." He explained and pointed to the shrapnel embedded in his head.

"How the hell did you survive?" Link wondered.

"That's a good question, one that I don't have an answer for. I just remember waking up in a pile of rubble with a large amount of cuts and bruises. Sometimes I feel like it would've been better if I did die there. Maybe no one was supposed to see the horror of the battle, where heroes became monsters that would destroy that which they once protected."

"Well you are alive Snake…and…and I think there's a reason for that." Peach said to the jaded old man. "You did save me after all." She said sweetly. Snake let out a small smile and turned to look at the princess. He told her…

"You always know how to cheer a guy up."

She smiled warmly with his compliment. Snake then looked back to Link.

"Well since we've got the dramatic crap out of the way, how've you been Link. You've definitely aged since I last saw you."

"Well people change physically as time passes." Link replied being a smart-ass.

"Real funny. But really, looks like you got some facial hair going on there. You've had to shave at all?"

"Maybe I have. Don't have to worry about gray hairs though." He snickered.

"You just enjoy your youth while you can kid. You'll end up like me soon enough."

"I really hope not."

After a few hours on horse, the group had arrived at the Hylian settlement.

"Alright men! Get all the supplies we've gathered where they need to be."

"Yes Captain!" The troops sounded off. Link dismounted his horse, as did Snake, and then helped Peach to get off the horse.

"You two follow me. We're going to see Zelda and have us a reunion."

Snake remained close to the princess, still concerned about her health.

"How're you feeling?"

"I feel a little better. I think I can walk on my own."

"You sure?"

"Well let's see."

He let her go, and though she stumbled a little bit, she regained her footing and was able to move.

"Alright, that's good to see. Still, you're not fully recovered. I'm sure that there's a doctor here that can get you back to normal."

"Got it."

"Okay. Until then, I'm staying close to you just in case."

Peach began to giggle after he finished speaking. Snake noticed.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm not sure. It's just funny to see you being such a sweetheart." She laughed. Snake let out a small sigh of embarrassment. He had just began to notice how over-protective he was sounding.

"Alright. Let's go. Don't want to keep them waiting." Snake said.

"Greetings Princess! The troops and I have returned." Link spoke after entering what could be considered as Zelda's "throne room". The princess rushed to Link and gently embraced him.

"Link! It's so good to see you're back." She smiled before releasing him. "How was the trip?"

"Nothing but good things to report. I've also brought a little surprise for you."

"Surprise?"

Peach then entered the room. Zelda's face lit up with joy, almost in disbelief upon seeing her.

"Peach!" She cried and ran to her old friend.

"Zelda!" The two princesses gave each other a warm embrace, both in tears after being separated for so long.

"I was so afraid I would never see you again!" Zelda said as her eyes watered up. "Link! Where did you find her?"

"I didn't. That would be surprise number 2 that did that." Link replied and pointed back to the door.

"What?" Zelda looked up and saw Snake, who had just snuck into the room, not wanting to interrupt her moment with Peach. "Goddesses! Is that…"

"Yeah. It's Snake…my knight in shining armor." Peach told her. The old soldier stood there arms crossed, somewhat embarrassed by the title Peach had just gave him.

"It's good to see you again Zelda." He greeted and extended his hand, a form of greeting he's more accustomed to. Though it was as if she didn't see it and just hugged him instead. Snake was again in a state of embarrassment. Expressions of affection was something he just wasn't used to.

" _Hug her back…_ " he subconsciously reminded himself and slowly wrapped his arms around the princess.

"Snake! I…I thought you were dead."

"Sorry if I disappointed you."

Zelda laughed. There was that deadpan sense of humor she knew him for. This was definitely Snake. She let him go and then looked at her two visitors.

"Oh dear, look at you two! You must be exhausted!"

"Well, we've certainly seen better days." Peach laughed.

"Please come with me! We'll get the two of you feeling better in no time."


	8. Rest

**This is a small rewrite of this chapter. I made a few corrections and got rid of the cliffhanger at the end because I felt it created a plot point that I ended up feeling was unnecessary. It was complicating my ideas for the future chapters so I felt it should be removed for the sake of creating a better story.**

* * *

 _Zelda had her people treat Peach and I to something I can only describe as "Hylian Hospitality". First we were taken to their medical bay for us to get patched up. I can't say that the people who work there can be called "doctors" because I don't think it takes much medical training to use a red fairy in a bottle on someone. Regardless, those fairies are nothing short of a miracle medicine. In just a couple of seconds I was feeling as good as knew. Then we were given a meal. Never ate food from Hyrule before but from what I was given, I think the stuff is pretty damn good. Finally we were given a refreshing bath. I can't remember how long it's been since I had one of those. It felt like heaven, but I know that nothing last forever unfortunately. Anyway I finished up my treatment, I'm gonna go back to Zelda. I'm sure she's got some questions._

Snake entered Zelda's room. She was the only one there, so he figured Peach wasn't finished being pampered yet. Zelda didn't seem to know he had entered, instead she was looking out a window, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "Hello Princess." He said alerting her of his presence.

"Oh Snake! You're back! I hope my people treated you well." She smiled.

"Very well. Treated me like royalty is more like it."

"I'm very glad to hear that."

A moment of silence occurred. It seemed that Zelda wasn't sure what to say. Snake decided to break up the silence.

"So uh…where are the others? Link and Peach I mean." He clarified.

"Link is helping the soldiers with the last bit of supplies. As for Peach, I had my people help her find clothes for her to wear. There's no need for her to be in those slave cloths. Anyway, they'll both be back here soon." She answered.

"Good to know." Snake paused and then brought up the next topic. "I take it that now's the time where I have to fill you in on everything that happened?"

"Hm? Oh! No there's no need to waste your time on that. Link told me everything while you were away. I'm sure you wouldn't be too thrilled if you had to explain that story again." She laughed.

"You have no idea." He said with great relief. Zelda sighed for a moment and took her attention away from the window and then looked at Snake, looking ready to indulge in conversation.

"You've changed since I last saw you." She began. "You seem like you…care more about people."

"Yeah? I guess I've gotten soft over the years." He admitted. "The world changed, so I changed with it."

"Any particular reason why?" She asked.

"Can't say, I think there's multiple reasons for it."

"Ok. That's good enough for me." She smiled. Though her smile quickly faded as a thought crossed her mind and made her somber.

"It's a shame the way our friends changed all those years ago."

"Yes it was. I was taught a cruel lesson that day." Snake reflected.

"A lesson? What do you mean?"

"I mean that what I learned from that battle is that there's no such thing as heroes or heroines. Who we think is today's "hero" can become tomorrow's "villain."

"That's a very cynical view of things but…the more I think about it, I can't help but feel that it's true."

"I know. It really sucks." Snake agreed. "That doesn't mean there's no such thing as good people." He added on a much lighter note. This brought a smile back to Zelda's face.

"You're right. That's something that's comforting to know at the end of the day."

Just then Link entered the room. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Oh Link! No of course not come in." Zelda kindly invited him.

"Yeah, I'm glad that you are here. Because there's something I need to talk to you both about." Snake said changing to a much more serious tone. The two Hylians were surprised by the sudden change in mood from the man.

"Well ok. What is it you wanted to discuss?" Link asked.

The three of them sat down at a small table for their discussion.

"I don't know if it's a good idea for me to stay here." Snake began.

"Snake?!" Zelda spouted in disbelief of Snake talking about leaving so soon.

"Look Snake, I know you've always been a loner but times have changed! It's better to be with a group now more than ever." Link reasoned with him.

"Listen to me! That's not my reasoning! I want to stay here, believe me I do. I think that we can do something with this settlement that can really benefit the good people of the wasteland, but as of right now me being here can be dangerous to the people of this settlement."

"What? How so?" Zelda questioned.

"It's recently come to my attention that I've earned myself quite a reputation during my years in the waste. I've made good impressions on some people, become sort of a legend, a hero. But more importantly, I've made a lot of enemies. Apparently I've become a thorn in the side of somebody or some group, one that's pissed them off enough for them to place a price on my head. And whoever it is, they've got a lot of cash to give to whoever can bring them my head."

"So what if you've got a bounty, you're definitely safer here than if you're out there by yourself." Link pointed out.

"I know that, but I've got a feeling that eventually they'll find out I'm here, and they will come here and attack this place. They'll kill your people searching for me. I don't want that."

"Snake, our settlement has been attacked by raiders numerous times, and our troops have always been strong enough to where they never make it inside the walls." Zelda informed him.

"Raiders are one thing, I'm not worried about them. But has your settlement ever been attacked by mercs?"

"Mercs?"

"Mercenaries, hired guns. People who you can call the "Hitmen of the wastes." They're well-trained killers, not to mention well-armed. They only attack places when they're hired to, and I know that teams of them are hired to kill me. I've had a run in with a group and they would've easily done me in if I fought them in the daylight. If they find out I'm here, they'll come and murder anything that stands in the way. I'm sure that your soldiers can defeat the first group that comes, but I promise that you'll suffer massive casualties. But when the second group comes, they'll succeed."

Now the severity of the situation dawned on Link and Zelda.

"Ok…we understand the threat. However, what do you hope to accomplish by traveling on your own?" The Princess asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure with that opposition it's dangerous to go alone."

"My goal is that I'm going to find the bastard that put the hit on me and kill him. Then no one will get any pay, and they'll have no motive to attack me. Then I will come back."

"How the hell do you think you'll be able to find him or her or…them even?" Link further expressed his skepticism.

"I don't know, but I'll find a way." Snake looked back at Link with a look of pure determination in his eyes. Link sighed and gave in.

"Alright. I guess if you were able to single handedly infiltrate a slave camp then I'm sure you can pull this off. What do you think Zelda?"

"I…I guess we don't have any better ideas. However I want you to be able to remain in contact with us while you're away. We have several outposts in the wastes that our troops are positioned at. I'll have Link give you the locations on your map."

"Ok, can do." He agreed.

"But Snake please, do at least stay with us for a little while. Two days at least!" Zelda begged. "Link, Peach and I have only been back with you for about a day, don't go just yet!"

Snake looked at the two of them, their eyes gave off a look that implied they would be very persistant about this. And then, Peach entered the room.

"Hi, everyone! I'm back!" She cheered. She looked at the three and felt a strange and tense vibe. "Is everything ok?"

Snake looked over to Peach. She was standing there, fully recovered and wearing a nice dress. It may not have been her favorite signature pink dress, but she at least looked like her true self again.

"Oh yeah…everything is fine!" He answered her. He then turned over to the two Hylians and whispered. "All right fine. I'll stay a little bit."

Link and Zelda were happy with the answer. "Alright well it's been a long day. How about we all get some rest?" Link suggested.

"Good idea. Good night you three." Zelda said and left to her bedroom.

 _That night, I lied down on the bed that was provided for me, and thought about what just happened. I must've looked like an asshole, wanting to leave after I just got here. Seems I somehow forgot that everything I did the past two days was for this…to find Peach, Link and Zelda. I did it, the gang's all here. I know that I'm not wrong about having to leave soon, but I was wrong about having to go immediately. Zelda's right, as long as I don't hang around too long then they won't find out I'm here. I've got two days, and I'm gonna take them. This is a reunion, so I better enjoy it while I can._

The next morning, Snake got up early and went around town, observing the Hylian settlement. He looked at the townsfolk, and they were all so friendly and happy. They lived as if the world never ended. Snake admired it, admired the strength of the people's spirit. No matter how hard life gets, there are always people that find a way to endure.

"Uh excuse me uh…S-Solid Snake sir?" A voice asked behind him.

"Hm?" Snake turned around to face the one who spoke. It was one of the Hylian soldiers, a nervous looking one at that. "Hey. Is there something that you need?" He asked.

"Um…well see…me and some of the others heard that you uh…know some pretty advanced martial arts." He mumbled looking embarrassed.

"You mean CQC? Yeah, what about it?"

"Me and my friends were just wondering if…maybe…you could teach us a little about it. If you can't that's fine! I'm sorry if I'm wasting your time."

Snake couldn't help but be amused. He wasn't sure why the soldier was so nervous about talking to him, but he still made his request despite his fear. For that, he felt the man should be rewarded. "Ok sure, I'll show you and your friends some of the basics."

"R-Really? Wow! Thank you sir! Please follow me."

The soldier led Snake to the training grounds. They had a good spot for him to give the lesson. The soldier and three of his friends participated in the lesson. They stood at attention, as if Snake was the commanding officer.

"So tell me, what makes you four want to learn about hand-to-hand combat?" Snake asked the group.

"Well sir, we've been well trained by Captain Link in using a sword in battle. However our skills in hand to hand are very…limited. So we fear that if we are to be disarmed in battle, we would stand no chance." One troop explained.

"Hmm. Taking into account a situation that you haven't experienced yet, but want to be ready for it if it ever happens. I'm impressed, that's a trait of a good soldier."

"Thank you sir!"

"Alright I'm willing to teach you some of the basics of CQC. But first I need evaluate your current abilities. I want all four of you to attack me without your swords. The goal is to subdue me."

"R-Right now?" One of the men stuttered.

"Right now." Snake affirmed. As he had ordered, the four men charged at him unarmed. Unsurprisingly it only took a minute for Snake to knock all four of them off of their feet.

"Man! They weren't exaggerating! You're one tough bastard!" A troop complimented as he got back up.

"Yeah! You mopped the floor with us! We didn't stand a chance!"

"Alright, don't get discouraged men. When it comes to fighting, you're gonna get your ass kicked before you get better. Now the real training begins. Let's work on getting better. Got it?"

"Yes sir!" They saluted in unison.

 _Strange, this feels so…nostalgic…_

* * *

 _Big Boss! You wanted to see me sir?_

 _Yes come in Snake. There's something I want to discuss with you._

 _What is it sir?_

 _You've been in FOXHOUND for only a small time. I've been observing your training exercises. You've been passing each one with flying colors. You remind me of myself when I was your age._

 _Thank you sir._

 _So after watching your display of skill, I've decided to personally teach you CQC._

 _CQC?_

 _Yes. Being able to use a gun is one thing, but to be a true soldier you need to be able master defeating an enemy using hand-to-hand combat._

 _But sir, I've already been taught CQB by Master Miller._

 _I'm aware of that. But CQC is a much different game than that. Far more advanced. It's a technique developed by my mentor and myself. Upon mastery, anyone you face in close quarters will have no chance against you. Very few people know of this fighting style Snake. Are you ready to become one of them?_

 _Yes sir…I'm ready!_

* * *

While by no means were they masters, in just a few hours Snake had taught the four Hylian troops how to disarm an opponent, various takedowns, and the advantages of using a knife. They had come out as much better fighters than before. Snake hoped that when he got rid of the bounty problem, he could come back and help the soldiers master it, like his father had with him. Big Boss and him…their relationship was…complicated to say the least. He liked to think that they ended it on a good note back in Arlington Cemetery…where he died.

"Maybe I should hire you as one of my drill sergeants." Link said snapping Snake out of his thoughts. "Maybe you can even teach me some of those moves." He laughed.

"I'll think about it." Snake grinned. The grin went away and Snake got on a much more serious note. "Listen Link. About yesterday…I'm…I'm sorry."

"Sorry? About what?"

"You and Zelda, you took me in, patched me up, and I was just about to get up and leave this place. Some way of showing gratitude huh?" He lamented on his behavior.

"Snake, neither of us are upset about that. Zelda and I both know that you're leaving out of our concern. If anything we really respect you for that." Link thanked him, somewhat comforting the old man. "However there's something you said that I wanted to ask you about."

"Go ahead."

"You said that you believe we can do something with this settlement to benefit the good people of the wastes. What did you mean by that?"

Snake turned to Link, paying full attention to him. "You said that now more than ever is a good time to be in a group right?"

"That's right."

"I was thinking…what if we got groups to work with other groups. Or even merge into an even bigger group."

"Can you be more specific?"

"I've taken a look at your settlement today. What you and Zelda have going on here is something really good. There are also other settlements out there who have a good system. But what I've noticed about all of them is that they're all separated by races. Here you've got a settlement consisting only of Hylians. Another settlement I was at recently consisted only of Koopas. It doesn't have to be that way. Why don't we make a settlement for people of any race? No separation, instead we can have Hylians, Koopas, Toads, Humans and more all living, working, and fighting together!" Snake explained his big idea.

"That's…that's interesting. I don't know why we haven't thought about it before. I'll definitely run it by Zelda and see what she thinks. But do you have any idea on how to get this idea off the ground?"

"After I leave, I want you to go to a settlement called Koopa Keep. Tell them that I sent you. Ask them to let you talk to Murphy, the Koopa in charge. Run the idea by him. Hopefully he'll be on board."

"Alright Snake. If Zelda agrees with it, I'll do it." Link promised.

"Thanks…speaking of, where is Zelda? Or Peach for that matter?"

"You're in luck. They're right over there at the shooting range." Link pointed out to Snake. He looked in the direction Link's finger pointed to and saw the two of them. Zelda was in the range practicing her archery, while Peach stood outside and watched. He made his way over there, eventually standing next to Peach as they both watched Zelda.

"Hey."

"Oh hi Snake! Glad to see you." Peach replied.

"Likewise. So what's up? You do a little bit of archery yourself?"

"Me? Oh no. Zelda just asked if I wanted to watch her and I thought it'd be interesting."

"Well she is one hell of a shot." Snake observed as Zelda's arrow hit the target dummy right in the head.

"Yep." Peach simply replied. Snake noticed a weird tone to her response. It sounded somewhat sad, jealous even.

"You want to tell me what's really going on?" He bluntly asked shocking her as he caught on.

"I…I just…" She hesitated looking embarrassed.

"C'mon Peach, talk to me."

"Just look at her. She's a princess like me, but she can also use that weapon like a warrior."

"You're thinking about the Toads again aren't you?" She could only nod as she looked on sadly. "It wasn't you're fault Peach. Remember that."

"I do…I remember what you told me. But I wish I could've at least done something about it. What if it happens again?" She asked looking more upset with each passing moment. Snake looked at her, then looked back at the shooting range. He stroked his chin as he thought. He held Peach's hand and began moving to the range.

"Come with me." He simply said. The princess was uncertain of what he was thinking, but she trusted him and followed. He took her into one of the target booths, and pulled out USP .45 handgun, and handed it to Peach. She looked frightened by the firearm he presented her. He clearly saw it. "Makes you uncomfortable huh?"

"A little bit…" She answered.

"That's okay. It's intimidating for a lot of people their first time. But if you really want to be able to use a weapon like Zelda can, then you gotta learn. It's okay if you don't want to, I'm not forcing you…"

"No…I want to learn." She said hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" Snake asked sternly.

"Yes. I'm sure." She answered with more confidance.

"Alright." He put the gun in her hand and stood close behind her. He extended his arms and put them behind hers, as if he was showing her how to swing a baseball bat. He positioned her hands onto the pistol grip. "You're going to want to hold the grip like this, okay?"

"Ok"

"See this small switch right here? That's the safety. You're going to want to turn it on when you're not in combat. And even when it's on, don't fool around with it. Always assume the gun is loaded, and never point it at anyone you don't want to shoot." He explained. "This button right here will eject the magazine. Right now you've got a full clip. Now let's start with firing it. First let's aim for the chest. Look through the iron sights." He let go of her, deciding to let her take the shot herself.

"Remember to keep your arms stiff, don't let them go loose. The gun will kick back when you shoot, and you don't want it to hit you in the face. Take the shot when you're ready.

The princess followed the directions, focused her aim and took the shot. She missed. "Damn it!" She cursed.

"That's alright! You were close. What you want to do is aim lower and slightly more to the right. And calm yourself, try to keep those hands from shaking." He said to encourage her.

Again, she gripped the pistol, pointed the gun, aimed and fired. A clean hit to the chest. She cheered to herself and Snake smiled to her.

"Great job! Now, do it three more times. Show me and yourself that it wasn't just a lucky shot."

1…2…3. Three shots fired, three shots hit. Snake was impressed, she was catching on quick. To test herself, she decided to use the remaining bullets in the clip. She shot the remaining 7 bullets.

"Five hits out of seven shots…you're pretty good." Snake said echoing the words an old gunslinging foe said to him. "Here's a new magazine. This time go for the head." He said and tossed her a full clip. Surprisingly she knew how the reload process worked, even cocking the barrel back to put one in the chamber. Maybe she learned from watching him in the past. She aimed and shot for the target dummy's head. She missed. Snake was about to give her encouragement, expecting her to be upset. However she kept her cool. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Yeah, I aimed a little too much to the left." She answered.

"Good eye."

She aimed a little more to the right and fired. She missed again.

" _Too much to the right that time. Just one more. I can do this!"_ She thought to herself. Taking aim again and putting in all her focus, she fired. Right through the head. She smiled to herself and looked to Snake, who nodded his head proudly.

Snake gave her one more magazine to practice with. With each shot, she had become better and better. It was getting close to night when they finished. As they left the shooting range, Peach handed the pistol back to Snake.

"No." He simply stated not taking the gun. "It's yours. You've earned it." He told her.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you Snake." She said gratefully. Snake's mood dropped from happy to serious. He had to be logical with her. Had to give her a reality check.

"This is where things get depressing." He started. "You were shooting targets today…but you and I know damn well that isn't what you're gonna be using that gun for."

"Right…" Peach muttered.

"There will come a point where you're going to have to shoot a living breathing person. Shooting targets and people are two very different things. When you get that first kill I promise you, it won't feel good."

The princess' head went down in sadness, so Snake put his hands assuringly on her shoulders to comfort her.

"Look at me. You need to know that feeling bad about killing is only natural, and you are not weak for feeling bad about it. Don't you ever forget that."

She brought her eyes up to look at his own. "Okay, I won't." She promised him.

"Good."

While that conversation had ended, another one followed shortly.

"Zelda told me that you'll be leaving after tomorrow." Peach sadly informed him. Snake closed his eyes and sighed heavily at that.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. They told me your reasons. You're a hero, and you have to stop evil." She laughed slightly. Snake could've went on his cynical tangent. The one of how he doesn't believe in heroes.

 _No! There's no need! No need to make this conversation sadder than it is already._

"You'll come back right? When you stop them?"

"Yeah. If I stop them I will come back."

"Please don't say "if!" She begged. "Can you promise me that won't get killed?"

"I'm sorry, I can't." He answered not wanting to lie to her. She was about to cry, he had to say something positive. "But just remember that I've survived seven years by myself out there. So I'd say I have a damn good chance of living." To his relief this calmed her down. She held onto him tightly.

"I'll take your word for it. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will…"


	9. The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Link was up early the next morning as always. It was his job to make sure that the soldiers got up early as well. They didn't have alarm clocks or even a morning rooster, but he was the next best thing. He also was recently tasked with making sure that Snake wakes up, as his short vacation here had Zelda deem him a VIP of sort.

 _This is Snake's last day. Zelda will be pissed if I don't make it a good one._

Link slowly opened the door to Snake's room.

"Alright Snake, time to…" Link paused as he saw that Snake was not in his bed. Not only that, but all of his belongings were out of the room as well. The bed was neatly made too, and on top of the bed was a letter.

 _Did he really…_

Link picked up the letter and opened it. It was Snake's handwriting, and he wrote…

 _Link,_

 _I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to stay another day but I just got too impatient. I feel that the sooner I get this over with the better. Tell Peach and Zelda that I'm very sorry. I hope you understand._

 _-Snake_

Link wasn't very upset with Snake's decision surprisingly. Though he wasn't thrilled about it, and he knew that the two ladies would not feel the same as he did. He knew how Snake was. He would make these choices that seemed insensitive and rude and sometimes made him look heartless, but Link knew that he made these choices because he believed that it was the right thing to do. It was one of the things he respected about the man. He prayed in hopes for Snake's safety during his journey. Then he dreaded having to break the news to the princess.

Snake was trekking through the wastes, back into this endeavor that felt routine to him. He looked at the map given to him by Link that had the locations of all the Hylian outposts that had intel teams posted at each one.

 _There! The closest one is just a couple miles north. Maybe they'll have some information for me._

Mapping where he needed to go in his head, he put the map back in his bag.

 _It's strange. Years ago I remember things were chaotic out here. Now things seem more peaceful. Sure there are always going to be bandits but…everything seems to be a lot tamer than when I last traveled here. The world seems to have recovered significantly after seven years. This survivor-man mentality that I have now…is it really appropriate anymore? Do I needed to loosen up a little bit?_

It was something that rarely occurred. Snake was questioning his cynical view of the world. It wouldn't last long, as Snake pulled himself together, smacking his palm against his forehead.

 _What the fuck am I saying?! Of course it's necessary! Look at what's going on right now. I'm trying to get a bounty off my head! I'm being hunted! Maybe other people can afford to relax a little but not me. If I drop my guard, I'm dead. That's how it's always been. Just focus on the task at hand, I can question these moral dilemmas when this is over._

It was a long walk, but Snake made it to the first outpost, where he was greeted by three Hylian soldiers.

"Ah! Hello Sir! Glad to see that you made it here safely." One of the soldiers said.

"Hey I'm not your commanding officer. You can just call me Snake." He laughed.

"Oh…right! Good to see you Snake. Hey guys! Snake's here!" He called to the other guards. They came and shook hands with him.

"Any trouble on the way here?"

"No nothing to report. So what's going on here?" Snake asked.

"Well, due to the nature of this assignment, Captain Link believes that we should start using these…advanced communication technology. I believe it is called a…radio." The soldier said and pointed to their Ham radio.

"That's a smart choice. The speed of which you can share intel with other outposts is important."

"Agreed…but…"

"But what?"

"I…don't know how to get it working. I originally had a sheet that told me how to work it, but I lost it." The soldier admitted.

"Well it looks like you have it powered on and everything. All you need is the frequency that the others are using."

"Right…that was on the info sheet as well though."

"Damn." Snake muttered. "Hang on I'll think of something."  
As Snake pondered in his thoughts, something sprang into mind.

 _Wait a minute! My codec! Don't I still have that? Let's see…Yes! I do have it! I haven't had to use this thing in years._

Snake stood there in silence, with the others not sure as to what he was doing. It looked as if he was just standing there with his hand to his ear, but he was actually tuning his codec to different frequencies, seeing if he could pick up Hylian radio chatter. After going through different frequencies, he finally picked something up.

" _Outpost 87! This is control. Do you copy? Outpost 87! Come in!"_

"Got it!" Snake cheered. He went over to the Radio and dialed it to the frequency he was on. Sure enough, the voice came through their radio.

"You did it!" The guard celebrated. He picked up the mic and responded. "This is Outpost 87. We read you control."

"What the hell took you so long to answer?" The voice asked.

"Sorry we had a little complications with the radio."

"Whatever. Has Snake arrived there yet?"

"This is Snake. I've arrived at the outpost." Snake responded via codec.

"Woah! How did you respond without the radio?" A soldier asked.

"It's my codec. It's basically a radio that's implanted in my ear."

"That's incredible. Now hold on a second Snake. Captain Link wants to speak with you."

"Ah shit…" he moaned.

"Snake you son of a bitch!" Link yelled over the radio.

"Nice to hear from you too."

"Seriously? You just had to get up and leave out of nowhere?"

"Link, I said in my letter…"

"I know…I know. I understand why you did it. Just wish you would have told me at least. Instead the task of breaking the news to Zelda and Peach was given to me in a split second." Link said calming down.

"Sorry about that. How did they take it?"

"They understood your reasons. Of course they weren't very happy with it, but they understood. Don't be surprised if you get slapped in the face when you get back."

"I won't." Snake laughed.

"So with this codec of yours…since it's basically a radio that's always with you, then we should be able to contact you wherever you are out there, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Good. However I don't want you standing by on this frequency. Otherwise you'll be hearing conversations from every out post out there. Let's set you up on a different frequency."

"Got it."

Snake and Link adjusted their radios and went to a different channel.

"Alright, now if we ever need to let you know something we'll tell you on this frequency."

"Are you sure about all this Link?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm being hunted. By providing me with any kind of help you're putting your people in danger. They may come after you." Snake explained his concerns.

"I'm well aware of that Snake, but we're still doing this. I can't just have you wandering out there without any support. Like it or not we're backing you up." Link responded.

"Alright then. I guess I can't stop you. So what can these outpost do for me?"

"They're scouts. They've always been good at providing us with intel. This time around they'll be focusing on any information regarding the people hunting you. There's usually four people at each outpost. One of them is the scout."

"There's only three here."

"Right, well the fourth guy isn't there because he's still out on the field. Scouts usually report back to the outpost around this time. Just wait for him to come back. Hopefully he'll have information for you. Otherwise if you need to stock up on anything, go ahead."

"Got it. Snake out." He said before ending the call. Snake walked over to the soldiers.

"Thank you for the help with the radio, Snake!" The radioman said.

"Yeah, no problem. Listen, Link said something about there being four of you. One of them being a scout."

"Ah yes! That would be Ashley. She should be back here an-"

"I'm back!" a female voice shouted.

"Uh never mind. That's her."

Snake went to meet Ashley as she came closer.

"Oh! Didn't know we had a visitor. You must be Solid Snake, right?" She asked.

"That's right. And you must be Ashley the scout." He replied.

"That's correct sir. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise ma'am." Snake said and shook her hand.

"Ashley, how'd the reconnaissance go? Get any good info." One of the soldiers asked.

"As a matter of fact I did. A very good amount too."

"Is that right? Where were you?" Snake asked.

"I was traveling in a settlement called New Altea. I was disguised and hoping to listen in on conversations that might relate to you, and then record them with this." She explained and took out her tape recorded.

"Altea? That's was the name of Marth's kingdom."

"That's right. And before you ask, I haven't seen any signs of him or the other Fire Emblem fighters."

"I see…"

"So what did you find out?" A soldier asked.

"I know that you must of pissed off whoever's after you really good. Not only are they trying to assassinate you, but they're also trying to assassinate your reputation."

"What?"

"PSCs were patrolling around the settlement, and they were handing these flyers out." Ashley pulled out said flyer and handed it to Snake. Snake took a look at the paper. It had a sketch drawing of him, a good looking one at that, and it read. It was a "wanted" poster, offering a reward for any information regarding the whereabouts of him.

"PSCs you said?"

"Yeah. Private Security Companies." One of the soldiers answered. "The offer protection to different settlements in exchange for payment. They act as police for that settlement in a sense. But they don't give a damn about protecting anyone. They're crooked mercenary bastards that only care for their own interests."

"Yeah. I've heard rumors that they stage bandit attacks on settlements in order to make the people believe that they need protection." The radio man said.

"Anyway, they were handing these out as well as questioning people on the street if they've seen you." Ashley continued.

"What would the PSCs want with Snake? They don't do assassinations."

"I think I know what it is." Snake said. "They've gotta be working for whoever wants me dead. They must want information on me so they can relay it to the hitmen. Why they're trying to brand me as a criminal I don't know. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me."

"They're trying to slander you're name but the people aren't buying it." Ashley told him, causing Snake to look puzzled. "Listen to the tape." She said and played the tape.

 _Sounds of footsteps_

" _You! Citizen! Come over here!" An officer ordered._

" _Yeah what!? Come to harass me and my customers again?" An audibly annoyed man asked._

" _Just calm down sir. We just want to ask you something."_

" _And what's that?"_

" _Have you seen this man and do you know his whereabouts?"_

 _Sound of unrolling a paper_

" _Whoa! Isn't this The Nomad?" the man sounded excited._

" _That is one of the names he's been called yes. Have you seen him?"_

" _I remember him!"_

" _So you have seen him! Where is he!?" The guard asked sounding like he was in a rush._

" _Whoa! Calm down! Jeez. I saw him almost two years ago."_

" _Damn it!" The guards cursed._

" _I remember that day though. Me and my family were getting mugged by a large group of bandits. The leader told me that if I let them take our stuff he would spare us…but he lied. And just as he was about to kill us, the Nomad appeared and killed those sons of bitches. He handed me the supplies they were going to steal from us, and he gave me a gun. Then he told me "Stay safe." Before taking off. If he hadn't shown up, me, my wife, and my son and daughter would be dead. That man's a hero."_

" _A hero? I don't know who's been giving you that propaganda, because that is far from the truth. That man is a criminal! He is a murderer!"_

" _A murderer? He's the one that kills murderers!" The man retorted._

" _No! That man is dangerous. He is not your ally. He is a terrorist."_

" _You're joking right! A terrorist? Ridiculous."_

" _Believe what you will citizen, but we better not hear you spreading these lies to the people."_

" _Like I need to. Everybody here knows the Nomad is a hero. He makes us feel safe, something you mercenary bastards have never been able to do!" The citizen shouted._

 _Footsteps of the citizen, Sound of a door opening_

" _What the hell happened?" A female asked._

" _They were asking about the Nomad."_

" _Huh? Did you say the Nomad?" A man asked followed by the sound of others being curious._

" _Yeah. Those PSCs are looking for him. Trying to tell me he's a criminal, a terrorist."_

 _People in the background began laughing_

" _That's bullshit! That man's just about saved everyone here's lives in some way."_

" _That's what I was saying. The guy's a legend. We all owe him our lives."_

"And that's where the tape ends." Ashley said. "How's it feel to know that you're the legendary hero of the wastelands?" She teased. Although Snake was not amused.

"Legends never really are a good thing. I'm just becoming a name to exploit."

"Oh come now! The people aren't going to buy a word of that smear campaign they're doing." A soldier said.

"Maybe so…" Snake said not ruling out the possibility. "Anyway, thanks for the intel." He got up and went to his bag and started loading up on weapons. Heavy weapons at that.

"Uh…so what are you going to do now?" Ashley asked.

"Looks like I may need to get more of their attention. Even if I might risk exposing myself."

"How are you going to do that?"

"There's a slave camp not too far from here. I went there to save Peach, but I promised I'd go back."

"You think you can save all those slaves alone?" A soldier asked in awe.

"It's not impossible. Anyway, keep yourselves safe." Snake waved goodbye as he took off with a M60 in his hands.


	10. Unchained

Snake was dead set on storming into that slave camp. He was armed to the teeth. Pistol, Assault Rifle, Sniper rifle, Explosives, you name it. Even the smallest of weapons, like his combat knife were at the ready. But as he marched through the valley he spotted something out of the corner of his left eye. He looked towards that direction and saw what seemed to be people moving. It was very far away so he couldn't make out what he was seeing. He pulled out his binoculars and confirmed that it was indeed a traveling group of people. Not a group per say, it was actually a slave caravan. Six slaves were being forced to move forward by eight slavers. Their hands were bound by handcuffs. From the looks of it the slaves seemed to have been recently purchased, judging by how they were not very far away from the slave camp and they were moving away from it. Among the slaves there was one that caught Snake's eye. A young woman with long blue hair. It wasn't the color of her hair that made her stand out though, it was her face, her eyes. They were the eyes of a fighter, a no-nonsense warrior. She absolutely loathed the situation she was in, and she didn't plan on staying in it for long. Snake could tell by the ferocity in her eyes that she was planning something. Soon enough, she stopped moving, refusing to take another step. The slavers looked puzzled by her action, and then grew angry.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Move your ass!" One of the slavers ordered. The woman refused to obey.

"What's the matter are you fucking deaf? Start walking!" Another one yelled. Again, she did nothing. The slavers definitely had a short temper, as one moved towards her and roughly grabbed her shoulder.

"You better cut this shit right-"

The man did not finish his sentence, and it turned out to be his last. The woman had pulled out a hidden dagger and slit the man's throat. The other slavers were momentarily stunned at what happened before the leader brought them back to reality.

"Stop her! Now!" He ordered. His goons took out baseball bats and began to combat the woman. They were all carrying guns, so they could easily stop her with one shot, but Snake deduced that he wanted his property alive. This woman was definitely a warrior. She was fast and agile, dodging the man blunt weapons that they were attacking her with. She ended up killing two more men with that knife. If the fight were to continue, Snake believed that woman would have killed them all. But the slave owner had grown impatient, possibly even afraid, and shot her in the leg to stop her. The goons began striking her while she was down.

 _Damn cowards_

"She's too dangerous to keep. Go ahead and kill her. Make an example of her in front of the others." The leader commanded referring to the other slaves. Snake took this as his que to take action and pulled out his sniper rifle. A goon pulled out his pistol and aimed for the woman's head. A gunshot went off, but not from his gun. Snake beat him to the trigger, putting a hole right in his head.

"SNIPER!" A goon yelled. They frantically ran about, abandoning their boss. The sought cover but they were in an open field. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. One by one, Snake picked off the slavers with one bullet. Only the slave owner remained, and he tried to make his escape, running away while shooting wildly in Snake's general direction. Snake took a shot but missed his intended target. He meant to hit him in the head, but ended up hitting him in the kneecap. He may not be dead, but he wasn't going to be going anywhere, as he was screaming in agony. He wished he would've been hit in the head. Snake began walking towards the caravan. When he arrived, he saw seven terrified slaves, the woman who fought back looking quite injured, and the slave owner writhing in pain. The man looked at Snake in horror.

"It's you! T-t-the demon!"

"Whatever, give me the keys."

"What? Keys?"

"Yes, the keys for the cuffs you have on these people. Give them to me."

"Ok! Here!" The man panicked and tossed Snake the keys. Snake went to the seven slaves paralyzed with fear.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you all out of here." He said and released them of their bonds. "Just stay put for now. Got it?" He asked to which the nodded in agreement. He then walked over to the injured woman and uncuffed her.

"You're really gonna kill me for a bunch of slaves?" The slave owner yelled.

"I'm not going to kill you." He replied. He then grabbed the man and dragged him over to the blue haired woman. "Her on the other hand, I can't guarantee anything." He said and handed her the dagger she had used. She looked up to Snake, who grinned and nodded his head. She nodded back, expressing her gratitude without any need for words.

"The world is a better place without people like you! I have no regrets for doing this!" She said and then thrusted the blade straight into his heart, leaving it in for a few seconds, and then violently pulling it out. And with that, there was one less slaver in the world.

"We're going to have to patch up that injury before you go anywhere." Snake said to the woman.

"You know how to?" She asked.

"Well I'm no surgeon, but I can do first aid no problem. Stitching up a bullet wound shouldn't be too hard. The bullet went straight through as well. That'll make things a whole lot easier."

"Alright. Go ahead."

Snake began going through his medical supplies.

"Those meat heads gave you a few cuts and bruises as well. Nothing that this can't fix. Here, eat this." He said and handed her a special tomato.

"A Maxim Tomato? I haven't had one of these in a while."

"It's great miracle medicine. It'll heal basic injuries, but something like this needs to be handled the old fashioned way."

The woman ate the tomato as Snake continued treating the wound. There was brief silence between them.

"I'm…my name is Lucina by the way." Lucina said.

"Good to meet you." Snake replied.

"I take it that you're the "Nomad" that everyone's talking about?"

"It seems like I've got a dozen of aliases that I didn't even know about. But yeah, Nomad is one of them."

"Can you tell me your real name?" She asked.

"It's Snake. Solid Snake. And even that's an alias."

"Snake? Where have I heard that name before?" She thought to herself.

"Are you a tactician?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" She replied, confused by the question that came out of nowhere.

"Don't play dumb. I was really impressed with your escape attempt. There's no way that was a heat of the moment attack. You had been planning that in advance. You even knew about the possibility of getting shot but you took the risk. Am I right?"

Lucina looked awfully impressed. "Well damn aren't you perceptive. Yes I had been planning that, but I wouldn't call myself a tactician. I had a friend that was one though, a great one at that. Maybe his skills rubbed off on me."

"All I can say is…you're pretty good." Snake echoed the phrase of an old rival.

"All right I closed the wound. Can you walk?"

Lucina attempted to stand up, but her legs gave in and she almost fell to the ground before Snake caught her. "Damn! Sorry, I guess that beating took more energy out of me than I thought."

"Don't worry. I'll get you and the others to a safety." He assured as he put her arm over his head to help her walk. He then turned on his codec and called Link.

" _Snake? What is it?"_ Link asked.

"Link, I've got a group of civilians here. They were being taken by slavers so I helped them out."

" _Really? You took on an entire slave caravan yourself_?"

"I can't take all the credit. One of them attempted to escape and took a couple out. Her name's Lucina."

" _Are you serious?!_ " Link said sounding joyful.

"Uh yeah…do you know her or something?"

" _Yeah she was one of the newcomers for the fourth tournament!"_

"Guess that explains how she's a great fighter. Anyway, she's got a minor injury, and I need to get her and the others to safety. Can you send a rescue team to come and pick them up?"

" _Of course. Where do you want to meet up?"_

"Go to that same cave that you found Peach and I. We'll take shelter there until then."

" _Alright Snake. Consider it done."_

"Thanks."

-Call End-

"So Link and Peach…they're still alive?" Lucina asked.

"Zelda is too."

"I'm glad to hear that. It's been so long since I've seen them."

"Yeah. Up until a few days ago I hadn't seen any of them since the incident."

"Where do you know them from?"

"I was in the third tournament. Met them during that time."

"So that's why I've heard your name before. I remember some of the veterans talking about you. I was hoping I'd get to meet someday, just..."

"Not under these shitty circumstances right?" Snake finished her sentence for her.

"Yeah that's about right. But I guess beggars can't be choosers." She laughed.

Snake walked to the other civilians and got their attention.

"Alright everyone listen up. I'm going escort you all into the care of the Hylians. We're going to meet up with a rescue party. It's a bit of a walk, so grab as many supplies you can carry from that slave caravan before we go. Understood?" He asked to which they all confirmed.

"Snake?" Lucina asked.

"What is it?"

"Just…thank you." She smiled. He smiled back to her.

"All right, let's get moving."

A few hours of traveling, they had made it to the cave without any trouble.

"All everybody, we're here. Let's set up camp." Snake ordered.

"I know how to set up a fire. This spot good sir?" A male Waddle Dee asked.

"Perfect. Get right on it."

"Do we need a tent?" A woman asked.

"No, the cave can provide us with shelter. Though if you want, you can use a sleeping bag or anything that'll make you more comfortable. We're going to be staying here until the search party comes, might take until the morning."

After the fire was set, Snake and Lucina sat next to each other against the wall of the cave.

"So how's the leg feeling?"

"Better, thanks. I owe you one." Lucina answered.

"Maybe I'll hold you to that Lucina." He chuckled. "So tell me, how did they manage to get you? Must've needed an elite force, cause you come off as someone who'd rather die than be taken alive."

Lucina laughed hearing that. "Believe me, if I had gotten the chance to fight my attackers, they would of needed to bring a lot of body bags."

"I don't doubt it. So I take it that they got the jump on you."

"That's right. But there's no way they just got that lucky. They found my hideout. Somebody must've sold me out."

"Sold you out? So you were on the run? What for?"

"I work for a group dedicate to eliminating slavery in the wasteland. Of course there are people who disagreed with our cause, and want to put a stop to our actions. A bounty was placed on me. One of the people I trusted was probably given a good deal to give my location to the bounty hunters. I'm not sure who it was yet, but that bastard will pay!" She swore to herself.

"Why did they take you alive? I would think that it be better for them if you were just killed right there."

"I'm still trying to figure that out too. I guess it doesn't matter right now. At least I'm alive." She said. "Now I've got a question for you." Lucina began.

"Really? What would that be?" Snake wondered.

"What were you doing before you came across us? I don't think you found us on purpose. It was a coincidence, am I right?"

"You are right. I was actually heading to the slave camp that you and the others were sold from. And when the rescue team gets you all to safety, I'm going back."

"What are you planning?"

"I'll go in, free the slaves, kill anyone who tries to stop me, then blow the place to hell." He put simply.

"That place is a fortress! There's no way you can do that all by yourself!" Lucina doubted.

"I can…because I don't see any other choice." Snake affirmed, standing by his decision. Lucina looked at the older man. She could see that his mind had been made, and no one could say anything that would change his mind.

"Alright, I guess I can't stop you. Just try not to get yourself killed, cause then you'll never be able to get that favor out of me. Got it Snake?" She joked.

"Alright. I'll do my best." He grinned.

Morning had come, and along with it was the Hylian rescue team. Link himself was personally leading the team. He was excited to hear Lucina was alive, so wanted to lead to team to see her himself. Snake handed Lucina and the refugees into the rescue team's care. As they were getting ready to head out, Link walked over to Snake to have a conversation.

"You have a good reunion?" Snake asked.

"Sure did. Still can't believe you found her."

"More like I stumbled onto her."

"Must've been fate." Link said.

"I don't believe in fate. It was just a coincidence. I'm glad it happened though."

"Anyway, thanks again Snake." Link paused for a moment before facing Snake again. "Listen, I heard about what you're planning on doing next."

"I'm not trying to make it a secret."

"I know it's just…are you sure you don't want backup?"

"I'm sure. If there's anything I want you to do for me, is be ready to have some of your men rescue the people I manage to free."

"Can do. By the way, Zelda is in talks with Murphy from Koopa Keep. Looks like that idea of yours may come to pass. If you make it back, I'll give you an update."

Snake nodded to Link and the two shook hands. Afterwards the two parted ways, with Snake making his way back to the slave camp.

After a days-long journey, Snake returned to the slave camp. He stood on a hill overlooking the fortress. Snake checked his arsenal, making sure every weapon was in perfect condition. He scouted the layout and made mental notes to himself. The preparations were complete, Snake was ready to move in. Pulling his pistol out of his holster, he took a step forward into enemy territory. A battle was about to begin.

"Who Dares, Wins."


	11. Blood Knight

There were two guards posted at the front entrance. They were slacking off by the looks of it, as they were sitting in chairs with a male slave being forced to act as a butler to them.

"Hey boy! You better get me my drink, or I'll have to go overboard with my beating quota." A guard threatened. When the slave looked over to the two men ordering him around, they suddenly fell to the ground dead. Bullet holes right on their foreheads, yet there was no sound of gunfire.

"You there." A voice addressed the startled slave. The slave looked to see Solid Snake, with a suppressed SOCOM pistol in his hand.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" The slave needlessly begged.

"Keep your voice down! I'm not here to hurt you. I need to ask you something." Snake told him for the purpose of clarity.

"Okay. What is it?"

"Do you know where the other slaves are being kept? I don't see them in the outdoor prison camp."

"The slaves get moved to the indoor prisons at night. It's been like that ever since there was a raid on the camp a week ago."

 _Good. Now I don't have to worry about them getting hit in the crossfire._

"Alright, that's all I need to know. Now grab whatever you need and get out of here."

"Are…are you serious?" The man asked.

"Yes! Hurry up and go!" Snake repeated.

"Thank you! I-I-I won't forgot this." He stuttered over his excitement and took off.

Snake raised his pistol as he was about to enter the door to the front office. He entered the room and there were three men inside. One was sitting behind the front desk, completely unprepared for combat. There was an armed guard at the far left of the room, and a guard with a shotgun close to his right. With his attack already planned, Snake shot the man at the back of the room right in the head for an instant kill. The guard on his right had raised his shotgun, but Snake CQC slammed him to the ground to briefly disable him. The man on the desk had only just grabbed his pistol, but Snake beat him to the draw and put a bullet through his head. He then pulled out his knife and thrusted it into the throat of the man on the ground, with blood spurting out. Snake picked up the shotgun the guard dropped and made his way to the next section. He went to the outdoor prison, completely void of slaves, but filled with plenty of guards. This is where the battle was going to get loud. He didn't see any way of sneaking through this. There were two snipers on the two different watchtowers outside the base. He managed to evade their sight when he entered the camp, but as soon as the heard a gunfight start they would turn around and put an end to him. Snake grabbed his PSG-1 Sniper Rifle with a surpressor and killed the snipers. Nobody heard a thing, but Snake was now ready to make his presence known. He took out a flare gun and shot straight into the air, a bright blinding light soared through the sky. Many of the guards shielded their eyes, not adjusted to the sudden change of brightness. Snake charged at two distracted guards, and blew them away with a point blank shotgun blast, with blood and limbs flying. This caught the attention of the other guards, and Snake took cover behind a cargo container.

"INTRUDER!" A guard screamed at the top of his lungs. A storm of bullets were sent flying in Snake's direction. They knew he was here, but they didn't know where. Two guards went to search behind the container, and Snake killed them with the shotgun as they rounded the corner. The guards would have a better idea of where he was now so he broke into a sprint to find new cover, dodging all the bullets that followed him. He went behind a bunch of stacked crates, but there was a guard waiting for him. The man tried to shoot Snake with his pistol, but Snake smacked the pistol out of his hand as he pulled the trigger. The guard resorted to his knife and began slashing wildly at Snake, who carefully dodged his attacks. Snake countered his attack, getting a hold of his arm and breaking it, stealing his knife in the process. He slashed the man two times in the chest, before plunging it into his head for the kill. He used the corpse as a meat shield as he fired at the other hostiles with his pistol. Snake hit a few enemies, but he couldn't confirm a kill amidst all the chaos. He tossed the corpse aside after he felt it served its purpose and then hid behind the crates. He heard one of the guards call out that he was going to toss a Bob-omb, one of the bombs that Bowser's army used. They would explode on impact, so Snake couldn't allow the bomb to land anywhere near him. Snake leaned out of cover and caught the Bob-omb mid-air and threw it back, killing four guards. He remembered having to catch a few back in the third tournament, and how you had to time it just right.

 _Thank God I still remember how to do that._

The place became littered with corpses over the course of an hour. Gunfire continued, bullets flying in multiple directions. As much as they tried, the guards could not get the upper hand against Snake. He fought as if he were possessed by a demon in battle, slowly killing slavers one by one.

"We can't even scratch him!"

"He just won't stop!"

"There's no way he's human!"

"This is useless! He's invincible! I'm getting outta here!" A panicked guard yelled and fled from the battle, with several others following him.

"Get back here you cowards!" One of them ordered, to which they didn't listen. Soon after a bullet went straight through his heart, killing him. There weren't many men left in the fight. Only five remained. After several minutes of a firefight, Snake and the five men had spent all of their ammo. It seemed they all had the same idea on what to do at that point.

"All right let's finish this!" One man yelled. The six of them all tossed their guns and pulled out their combat knives. Snake walked out of cover to face the five men in a last stand knife fight. The men were somewhat intimidated and made uneasy at Snake's appearance. From head to toe he was drenched in the blood of his enemies. The blood even covered his entire face. Two men dashed towards Snake and swiped their blades at him. Snake didn't just rely on his knife, but his CQC as well. He ducked under the attack of one man and grabbed the attacking arm of the other man. He twisted the man's arm and broke it with ease. Another man attempted to jump in, but Snake picked up his opponents knife and threw it into the heart of the man with pinpoint accuracy. After slitting the throat of the man with the broken arm. Snake turned his attention back to the other man. As he dodged his attacks, the last two men stepped in the fight. Snake used the momentum of one of the men charging at him by throwing him into another man, temporarily putting them out of the fight. He fought the man still standing and finished him swiftly, gutting him with his knife and then kicking him to the ground. He grabbed the dead man's knife and held a knife in each hand. The last two men had gotten back up and charged at him, with Snake charging right back. He ducked under their simultaneous swipes and plunged the knifes into their hearts. The two men fell to the ground as their life faded away. It was over. Snake retrieved his knife from one of the men's chest. He then walked over to the indoor prison.

Snake opened the door to the prison. There were five large cells caging the slaves, who were all on the ground in fear after hearing the battle outside. Snake went to the jail keepers desk and retrieved the key to the cells. The slaves panicked as the man soaked in blood approached their cell.

"It's okay! I'm here to get you all out." He told them and unlocked all of their cells.

"Hey! Hey that's the Nomad! He's come to save us!" A male Goron said. The other slaves began expressing joy from the news.

"Alright, it's unlocked. All of you get out of here! Keep heading South, there will be a rescue team to pick you up. Go!" He ordered.

"Thank you!"

"We'll never forget this!" and many other praises were said to Snake as the slaves ran out of the camp.

 _Now…only one thing left to do._

In the armory of the camp, Snake found plastic explosives. He set them up at several key structures of the camp. When he finished setting the explosives he got far away from the camp. Looking at it from a hill, he pulled out the detonator for the explosives and pressed the button. Multiple explosions occurred at once, and destroyed all that was left of the camp. It was nothing but ashes now. With his task now complete, Snake turned around and began to wonder the wasteland, hoping that he would soon be hearing from some bounty hunters.

Snake stopped walking in the middle of the night.

 _I know I just heard something._

He checked his surroundings. He didn't see anything or anyone, but he knew he was being followed. So he continued to remain still. After a couple of seconds, he heard the sound of dashing. He rolled to his left, avoiding being hit by his attacker's dashing sword attack. He knew that move, and he knew who that man was.

"Good to see you too Ike." He sarcastically spouted.

"Damn it!" the swordsman cursed.

"I'd like to say it's good to see that you're alive but judging from what just happened, I may have to change that."

"Snake, I'm sorry. Trust me when I say I don't enjoy having to do this." Ike said.

"I believe you. You're a mercenary after all, just like I was. Not about the job, it's about the pay. Nothing personal right?"

"Yes…nothing personal. I've got a family to take care of." Ike examined Snake, getting a look at all the blood on him, looking like he had just went in hell and walked back out.

"Alright Ike, go ahead. Finish your mission." Snake said inviting Ike to attack. The swordsmen hesitated at first, but dashed at Snake and began slashing at Snake. Ike was surprised to see that even after seven years and being in his fifties, Snake's agility and reflexes were just as good as when he was younger. Snake dodged each swipe the Ike attempted. Ike was caught off guard when Snake disarmed him of his sword, knocking it out of his hand and sending it a few feet away. This is just what Snake wanted. He began using multiple CQC strikes on Ike. Ike blocked and dodged as best he could, but most of Snake's strikes hit their mark.

"Hand-to-hand Ike." Snake shouted before hitting him with a fierce punch to the abdomen. "It is the basis of all combat." Snake finally unleashed a massive combination of CQC strikes putting Ike on his back, defeated. "Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon." He said to finish quoting an old friend of his.

"W-what are you saying." Ike said as he breathed heavily on the ground.

"You're a damn good swordsman Ike, but what happens when you don't have your sword? This happens. You lose your main method of offense, and you don't have any good alternatives. Learn to fight with your fists. They're always with you. And also…" Snake stopped before reaching into his backpack. He took out a stash of rations and tossed them to Ike. "Be sure to take care of that family of yours."

"What? You're not going to kill me?"

"No, I won't."

"But I tried-"

"To kill me, I know. But I know you're a good kid Ike. Just trying to take care of the family and it unfortunately turned to having to do some wet work. I can respect that. But don't try it again. I may not be in such a good mood next time."

"Alright. Thank you Snake." Ike sighed.

"One thing you can do to return the favor is tell me who hired you."

"I don't know who they are, all I know is the group name." Ike responded.

 _So it is a group!_

"Go on."

"They're apparently called The Bladesmen Committee. And we didn't get hired by them personally, we were given paper cut outs with our orders."

"Who's we?"

"Oh the other bounty hunters. Captain Falcon and Samus. I don't know what their motives are, but as far as I know they won't hesitate to kill you."

"Neither will I. Is that it?"

"I'm sure there are other bounty hunters, but they were the only ones with me at the time."

"Alright, thanks kid. Again, take care of that family." Snake repeated and walked off.

Ike was finally able to get back up from his beating. He looked at the food that Snake had given him. It was enough to feed him and his family for months. He felt massive guilt over trying to kill him and now felt in debt to him.

"Snake…I will pay you back someday. I promise."


	12. Crosses to Bear

A few miles south of the slave camp, a Hylian rescue team had set up a post under Link's orders, and they were to be prepared to take in refugees from the slave camp. However, many of the soldiers were skeptical as to whether that would happen. Two soldiers were at the front scouting to see if any refugees were coming their way.

"You think he can do it?" One of the soldiers asked his partner.

"You mean Snake?" The other asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't know man. I mean the guy has done incredible things. But attacking an entire slave camp? No one has ever tried that. I don't want to say he can't do it but…the odds really aren't in his favor."

"I hear you. Even the Captain sounded unsure about whether he could do it, and he knows him better than any of us."

"Yeah, but what if he does pull it off? Can you imagine how many people would be coming our way? It'd be-"

"What's that!?" The other soldier cut him off as he saw something.

"What is it?"

"Give me those binoculars!" He told his partner. After getting the binoculars, he looked straight ahead through them. He saw a massive crowd of people. Over 50 refugees dashing their way.

"Holy shit…he did it…" The soldier said in awe and dropped his binoculars.

* * *

The news spread throughout the Wasteland fast. The tales of how the "Nomad" stormed into a high security slave camp, killed numerous slavers, freed the slaves, and blew the place to the ground was told not just by the refugees, but by the slavers who had fled from the battle. The story both established Snake as a heroic legend, and struck even more fear into those who were against him. Snake's plan worked, and he felt one step closer to finding the people that want him dead.

Snake's codec began to ring. He was getting a transmission from Link, so he put him on.

"This is Snake."

" _You never cease to amaze Snake."_

" _I'll say!"_ Zelda and Link said respectively. Snake rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be sure to pat myself on the back. Is there another reason you called?"

 **Link** " _Well yeah, what happened?_ "

"What do you mean "What happened"? I did what I said I was going to do."

 **Link** " _Ok I get that! You succeeded. But did anything you weren't expecting happen?_ "

"I didn't have specific events mapped out in my head, but in general it went the way I expected it to go."

 **Zelda** " _Wow…so you were that confident that you could do it?"_

"There's no room for doubts in life or death situations. However something interesting did happen afterwards."

 **Link** " _What's that?"_

"I got attacked by a bounty hunter, someone we know very well…Ike."

 **Link** " _What?!"_

 **Zelda** _"Ike! He tried to kill you?"_

"Pretty much."

 **Link** " _I can't believe this. How could he betray you?"_

 **Zelda** " _Snake, don't feel bad, you had to kill him. You had no choice."_

"What are you talking about Zelda? I didn't kill him, and he didn't betray anyone."

 **Link** " _What? Then how'd you get out alive?"_

"I beat him in a fight and then left."

 **Zelda** " _Why? He tried to kill you."_

"He tried to, but I could tell he didn't want to. He wanted the money cause he's got people he needs to take care of."

 **Link** " _I see. Still, why did it have to come down to killing your old friend?_ "

"I don't know the circumstances, but I do know that he wished it didn't come down to that."

 **Zelda** " _So you left him alive._ _Don't you think he'll be following you and try to kill you again?"_

"No I don't. Ike's no assassin. And besides, I gave him what he needed after we fought. He told me something interesting though. The name of the organization that's after me is the Bladesmen's Committee.

 **Zelda** " _I can't say that I've heard of them._

 **Link** " _Me either."_

"Well then that makes three of us. Link? Do you think you can do something about that?"

 **Link** "I'll get my scouts to look for any information on them."

"Thanks, I'll be looking for info as well. Update me if you find anything."

 **Link** " _By the way, is there a way for you to allow us to hear what you're hearing out there? Not to intrude on your privacy on anything but we want to be updated on what's going on so we can help you as best we can."_

"Sure thing, I'll turn the monitor on. Snake ou-"

 **Zelda** " _Snake wait!"_

"What is it?"

 **Zelda** " _Peach wanted me to tell you…"I've been practicing._ "

Snake let out a small smile before ending the call. "Good for you Peach. Good for you."

* * *

"FALCON-" A voice roared behind him. Without hesitation, Snake swung around and struck the person with a wicked right hook, knocking him to the ground.

"Even after all these years you're still calling out your attacks, huh Falcon?" Snake mocked. Falcon got back to his feet and looked angrily at Snake. "So what are you planning on using that bounty for?"

"It's not about the money. You are becoming a false idol to the people of the wastes. You are no hero, the Swordsmen Committee has deemed you a criminal so I do too." Falcon explained.

"You're a bad liar Falcon. What's the real reason?"

Falcon smirked at Snake. "Yeah you're right. I don't care about what that group has against you. I just want the money. And I want to be known as the one that defeated the Nomad."

"You're in this for fame? Pathetic."

"Shut your mouth and fight!"

Falcon sprinted toward Snake and the two began to fight. Falcon was still as fast as ever but Snake could still keep up with him. They were evenly matched, both of them waiting to land a good strike. Falcon managed to shoulder bash into Snake, knocking him on his back. Snake immediately retaliated with a leg sweep, putting Falcon on the ground with him. They both got back up, glaring at each other. Falcon quickly leaped high into the air.

"FALCON KICK!" He screamed and began to plummet towards Snake with a fire kick. Snake safely back dashed away from the kick, and then countered with a CQC slam.

"Again, calling out your attacks doesn't have any practical use in battle."

Falcon returned to his feet and hit Snake with a roundhouse kick.

"How about that?!" Falcon boasted as Snake clutched his ribs.

"Better. I didn't see that one coming."

Falcon leaped at Snake and prepared to hit him with his electric knee, an attacked feared by many in the Smash tournaments. He was in for a surprise, as Snake managed to catch him in mid-air and body slam him.

"How?! Impossible!" Falcon shouted as he writhed in pain.

"That's supposed to be one of your finishing moves isn't it? But you tried it while I was prepared. You're letting your hubris get in the way."

"Don't lecture me!" Falcon shouted in anger and began attacking. Falcon was relentless in his assault. He was throwing punches at the rate of an assault rifle shooting bullets. Snake could only block, but he was not helpless. He knew that this would drain Falcon's energy, so he just needed to take as little damage as possible. Soon enough, Falcon was out of breath and ceased his attacks, gasping for air. This gave Snake an opening for a 5 hit CQC combo. As Falcon got back up from the attack, he smashed his fist against the ground, making his frustration very clear.

"Let's try something different!" He laughed. In an unexpected move, Falcon pulled out his blaster and began firing at Snake. He had always carried it during the tournaments, but people always forgot he even had one because he never used it to due tournament rules.

"So that's where we're going with this huh?" Snake muttered as he found cover behind a boulder. "Fine by me."

Pulling out his SOCOM, this fist fight had now become a pistol duel. Snake peeked his head out of cover to get a visual on his opponent, and he did. Falcon saw him too however, and fired a barrage of shots at him, forcing Snake back into cover. Snake then ran towards another boulder to take cover behind, with Falcon blasting shots as he went. With an evasive roll, Snake made it to cover without taking a hit.

"Give it up Snake! You've got those primitive weapons. You've got a limited number of shots." Falcon boasted. "I on the other hand have a blaster! No need to reload. Infinite ammo Snake!"

"Infinite ammo is good and all…" Snake rolled out of cover, dodged Falcon's shot and fired back, hitting Falcon in the stomach. "but it means nothing if you can't hit me."

"You bastard!" Falcon muttered in pain and clutched his wound. He was about to take cover, but out of nowhere, Falcon was hit directly with a small missile, sending him flying back from their battle zone. Snake looked to where Falcon landed, and saw that he was missing limbs, notably his head. Rest assured he was dead. Snake held up his gun and pointed to where the missile came from.

* * *

"Alright! Show yourself!" He demanded. A woman in a power suit came out of hiding. Snake of course knew who that was. "I was wondering when you'd show up here Samus. So, did you have a vendetta against Falcon, or are you just that competitive of a bounty hunter?"

"He was weak. The only one who's going to kill you is me. I've been waiting for this moment, and I won't allow anyone to steal it!" She said.

"Alright, I'm genuinely curious. Why do you want me dead? I can't assume it's for the money."

"Of course it's not something as trivial as money. No! I want revenge."

 **Link** " _Revenge? What the hell is she talking about?"_

"I'm not sure Link." He whispered into the codec. "Care to elaborate on that Samus?"

"Seven years ago, you and several of the others abandoned me in my fight against Master Hand and the other fighters corrupted by the Smash Balls. You all couldn't understand that we were being oppressed, and just left, acting like I was the bad guy!"

Snake began to laugh at her explanation.

"What the fuck is so funny?!" Samus roared pointing her arm cannon at him.

"How the mighty have fallen…" Snake said confusing Samus. "You've actually convinced yourself that you were justified in your actions. You're not bullshitting me Samus. You were just as guilty as the rest. You had such a lust for power because of those Smash Balls. I remember people saying you broke Pit's nose for asking if something was wrong with you. And then you played your part in destroying the world in that final battle."

"The hell would you know about the final battle? No one saw it!"

"No one but me."

"You got any proof of that?"

"Master Hand was the "bomb"!" Snake said presenting the evidence. Samus lowered her arm cannon in shock, remaining silent. "I saw that, and I saw you level an entire city with that cannon of yours."

"No…that was…"

"WAKE UP! You've been living a lie for these seven years, now snap out of it!"

"You're wrong!" Samus screamed and shot a fully charged Plasma beam at Snake who dodged it and went behind cover.

 **Zelda** " _Snake! Are you okay?!_

"For now, yeah. I don't know if I can say that after this fight."

 **Link** " _So you…really think you have to fight her?_ "

"I'd rather not, but she's not giving me any other choice."

 **Zelda** " _Fight her if you must, but try to negotiate with her. Help her return to her senses."_

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything." Snake ended the conversation and readied for battle.

"Look at you! You look like a demon with all that blood on you! What gives you the right to judge me! You're a murderer." Samus shouted as she fired at Snake, who dodged the attacks. Snake drew his pistol and took three shots at Samus. They made their mark, but merely dented her powersuit.

 **Link** _"Damn! Snake that armor looka more durable than my shield. Looks like you need something much more powerful to damage her."_

"I was afraid of that." He replied and continued dodging.

 **Zelda** " _Actually, it's not so much the armor itself. Her armor uses energy shielding to protect her. Strangely, it's not very resistant against physical attacks…"_

"So CQC? Got it! Thanks Zelda." Snake said and began closing in on Samus as he dodged. He finally closed the distance between them, and Samus attempted to strike him with her arm cannon. He parried it, smacking her arm away and then striking her with a kick to the leg followed by a punch to the face. Samus went into morphball form to roll away from Snake, then went back to her normal form. She dashed towards Snake and began combatting him with her fists.

"Do you know how much you've been hurting the bounty hunting business over the years?"

"Do tell."

"So many high profile targets dead, and they were always killed by you! Bandit leaders, Crime lords!"

"Really? I just came across them by coincidence. Sorry if I'm getting rid of criminals for the price of nothing." He snarked to further anger her. She managed to punch him in the gut and then kick him to the ground.

"You do it because you like the killing! Isn't it!"

"I won't even bother having that stupid argument with you. I've heard it enough as it is. Let's just say my reasons for killing don't involve money."

Samus blasted him with two small plasma shots, hitting him in the chest. Snake grunted in pain from the burning sensation that they left.

"Seriously Samus, enough of this. Just accept what you did. I won't think any less of you, and neither will the others." He said trying to convince her as he dodged her strikes.

"The others? The ones that abandoned me too? When I kill you, I'll go after them next."

"Like hell you will!" Snake said with anger and hit her with a fierce uppercut, knocking off her helmet. Samus was shocked at by the strength suddenly coming from him.

"What happened? You use to be such a jaded, cynical asshole. Why now do you suddenly care about these people? They've done nothing for you." She pressed on as she struck him with punches.

"You really think that? That we shouldn't fight for others just because they don't reward us? Are you really so far gone that you forgot what you used to fight for?"

"You're a weapon Snake! You were made to fight for the interest of whoever owns you!" She reminded him.

"That may be true, but I'm not bound to the intention of my creators. I can choose my own path…we all can. You can get off the wrong path you're on, and begin walking on the right path. It's your choice."

"Right path? What's your idea of the "right path"? Enlighten me, Mr. Hero!" She rudely said.

"Fighting for a cause, a cause that you believe in. I believe that the good people of this land deserve peace, but there are forces that want to take that away. When those people can't fight back, I'm the weapon that will fight for them. I will fight and kill so that others don't have to. I will suffer for the sake of others. I'll do whatever it takes to allow those people to live a peaceful life…even if it means I can't live one!" Snake explained. Samus looked confused, as though she was contemplating. "What about Adam? From what you told me he fought for his beliefs, don't you think?"

Samus snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing that name. Her face grew red with anger. She fully charged her cannon. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM!" She screamed and pointed her cannon at Snake.

 _Samus…I'm sorry…_

As she was about to fire, Snake drew Murphy's special revolver out at lightning speed, aimed at Samus and fired. The shot pierced through her suit, and her body. Her power suit fell apart, reverting her to her Zero Suit. The blue colored suit had a blood red stain on the torso area, and it was getting bigger. She collapsed and fell on her back.

* * *

 **Link** " _You did it Snake…but…"_

"I couldn't get through to her…"

 ** _Zelda_** "Do you think you can…"

"I can't save her. She's lung shot. There's nothing I can do."

Snake walked over to the dying Samus, and kneeled over her.

"You…you were right Snake. I'm sorry." She apologized.

"…"

"I…I think I lost sight for what I was fighting for…a long time ago. I thought…that when I avenged Adam and my parents that the pain would go away…but it never did. Since then I felt…like I've always been…been looking for…something. I guess I won't find out what it was."

"I know that life wasn't easy for you. Whenever we suffer, or we lose the ones we love, naturally we want to find something to blame it on. Whether it be a god, karma, fate, or people, it's always easy to blame it on something else. But none of them are responsible, it's just the way the world works. Life is not fair. It sounds like a callous thing to believe in, but it's the truth. We usually learn things from the struggles we go through, and those lessons could help us make a better future."

"You're right…I know you're right. I just wish I figured that out sooner. I let that stupid power consume me. I lost my friends because of it. They must hate me for what I've done."

"Don't worry. You made mistakes, but all of your friends will remember all the good you did during your life. Even me."

"Thanks Snake..." She smiled. "Snake…this wound…it really hurts. Can you please…"

"I know." Snake answered knowing what she was thinking. He pulled his pistol out of his holster, and pointed it at her head.

 _Goodbye Samus…_

With a pull of the trigger, Snake released Samus from her misery.

* * *

Snake continued walking the rest of the day, finally setting up a camp in a cave. He then received a call.

 **Link** " _Snake…"_

"…"

 _ **Zelda** "Snake I'm so sorry…for all of this."_

 **Link** "Snake, can I ask you something?"

"…"

 **Link** " _Snake?"_

"Go ahead."

 **Link** " _How do you do it? You've gone through more hardships than anyone should endure. I couldn't of done what you did today. How are you able to do all this without being angry at the world when you've got every right to be?"_

"Because it's my role."

 _ **Link** "Huh?"_

"I don't want anybody to have to go through the pain of killing a friend. So I'll go through it instead."

 ** _Zelda_** " _Snake…thank you. I'm sorry, I really thought we could've gotten through to Samus."_

"I know. But not every story can have a happy ending…and this one's no exception. Snake out."


	13. Mutation

**Special Thanks to CowTits the Udderly Glorious for his story suggestion. Turned out there was a good way for me to integrate it with the plot.**

* * *

Snake continued traveling the next morning. He didn't know where he was heading, and frankly didn't really care. It'd been like that the past few days. He wouldn't find answers, the answers seemed to come to him instead, albeit through violent means. Looking around his current position he noticed something. This place looked familiar. The area was very urban, but practically destroyed. This had to be close to where Master Hand's explosion took place. He hadn't been anywhere near this area in seven years, he didn't know what to expect now. He walked down an old street and suddenly heard gunfire in the distance.

 _Great! Didn't take long for conflict to find me._

Snake ran to the direction where the noise came from. He hid to the side of a building, and peeked around to see what was happening. The gunfire came to a stop, being replaced with agonizing screams.

 _What the fuck?!_

Snake witnessed a larger than average Koopa with four arms ripping a man's arms off before eating his head. The Koopa turned towards Snake, seeming like he saw him. Snake quickly went back into cover, trying his best to breathe slowly. He heard footsteps getting louder. It had to be that "thing" coming towards him.

 _Just keep still, keep still…_

The grotesque looking Koopa passed by Snake, unaware of his presence. Snake got a closer look at the creature. Its eyes were glowing yellow. Its face was missing skin, and had blood dripping from its mouth. Having enough of the sight-seeing, Snake drew his knife from its sheath and jumped on the Koopa's back. He wrapped his arm around the neck of beast, and it began putting up resistance, shaking around trying to throw Snake off his back. Snake stabbed the knife into its throat, and it slowly fell to the ground dead. Confirming that he neutralized the beast, he stepped off of its back.

"Jesus Christ! What is this thing?"

" _Snake! Come in. Is there something wrong!?"_ Link asked over the codec.

"I'm fine Link."

" _What happened?"_

"I just killed some abomination that I think might have been a Koopa at some point."

" _What are you talking about?"_

"It's a large Koopa with four arms, super strength, and a craving for blood…it must be some type of mutant."

" _Mutant? Do you think it might be caused by radiation that Master Hand's explosion might've spread?"_

"No. Master Hand may have exploded like a nuke, but he wasn't made of nuclear material. If that was the case then I would have died from radiation poisoning. Whatever's causing this, must be specific to this area, because I've never seen anything like this in the southern area of the wastes."

" _You're probably right. In any case, figuring it out isn't the objective. Your priority should be staying alive and finding information about that Committee. Though if you stumble across any information along the way that wouldn't be a problem. Proceed with caution Snake."_

"No arguments here. Snake out."

Snake traversed through the ruined city as if it were a sneaking mission, moving quietly and going from cover to cover. He saw mutated Waddle-Doos, and instead of having one eye like usual they had three, making them a tri-clops of sorts. What they could do with those three eyes, Snake chose not to find out. He continued sneaking his way through the city. He got a good sight of the "flora and fauna" along the way. So many strange looking creatures made stranger from an unknown mutation. There was a large green Goomba with a horrendous face. Snake didn't think he had a good enough vertical to jump on its head, so that option was out the window. Then there were ReDeads. They looked as hideous as the always did, but their behavior and abilities were not what Link would be familiar with. Instead of their zombie-like movement and behavior, Snake saw them run at extreme speeds and jump on to the rough of buildings. They could even climb up buildings if they needed to. These creatures had Snake's attention, and he was caught off guard as he felt a gun tap him in the back.

"Freeze!" A British-sounding female ordered. Snake felt no choice but to comply with the woman's orders. He had been caught with no plan, no tricks up his sleeves.

"All right." Snake answered calmly and put his hands up awaiting further instructions.

"Now turn around!" She commanded. Snake turned to see that this mystery woman wasn't a human, but rather an anthromorphic blue female vixen holding a blaster.

 _Must be one of those Space Animals._

The vixen looked at the blood soaked appearance of the man in front of her, causing her to shiver from the unnerving sight. She held up a communicator on her wrist and radioed an ally.

"I've got someone here. Don't know if he's a hostile. Come and meet up with me." She requested.

" _Got it! I'm on my way!"_ A male said over the communicator. Snake had a strong feeling that he could've disarmed her at this point now that he had a clear view of her. However he wasn't sensing any hostile vibe from her, so he didn't want to do anything that might hurt his chances of a possible alliance.

"Wanna tell me what you're doing out here?" She questioned him.

"I was just passing through." Snake answered. He knew how much a lie that answer sounded like, but it unfortunately was the truth. "Look, I'm not your enemy. Let's ju-"

"I'll be the one to decide that. Keep still if you want your head where it is." She brushed him off. Snake grunted in frustration, but then his eyes got fixated on something he saw behind the vixen. Something dangerous.

"What the hell are you looking-"

Without warning her, Snake leaped and tackled her to the ground, saving them both from a massive laser. Snake drew out his pistol and shot three rounds at their attempted assailant. It was a mutant Waddle Doo, and he successfully killed it. The two of them got back to their feet, with the vixen surprised at what occurred. She suddenly shoved Snake to the side and fired her blaster, killing a monster Koopa that was about to get the drop on Snake.

"That was too close. Thanks." Snake said with genuine gratitude.

"I should be thanking you…and apologizing for my earlier behavior." She said feeling guilty.

"No need, I understand. You can never be too safe nowadays, especially with people you just met."

"Well it's been awhile since I've met someone who gets it. You got a name?"

"A lot of people call me "the Nomad" among many other aliases. But I prefer to go by Solid Snake. You can just call me Snake, it's less formal." Snake joked.

"Is that so? Well Snake, my name is Krystal."

"Krystal? Good to meet you." He said. "By the way, you called someone on your communicator. What about him?"

"Him? Oh he should be here right about…"

"I'm here." A male voice interrupted, making his presence known. Snake turned to see a familiar face.

"It's been too long Snake."

"Fox!"

Fox McCloud, the leader of the Star Fox team, and an old friend Snake fought with during Subspace was standing in front of him in the flesh. The two went to shake hands.

"You know him Fox?" Krystal asked.

"That's right. Snake was in the third tournament when we met. Needless to say, he's a good friend."

"How come you didn't tell me about him?"

"Honestly, I thought he was dead." Fox then took note of Snake's blood spattered appearance. "You look like you've been through some shit man!" Fox said with serious concern.

"Let's just say that I've just been through an experience that's really hardened me." Snake vaguely answered.

"Another one huh? Sorry to hear that." He apologized, regretting his question. "Anyway! It's good to see that the legendary "Nomad" has come to the Northern wasteland."

"People have heard about me here too? But this is the first time I've ever been in this area."

"News travels far and fast Snake. Tales of your escapades have spread even here." Fox said.

"And the Committee sure isn't happy about that." Krystal laughed.

"Committee!? Are you talking about the Bladesmen's Committee?" Snake suddenly asked eagerly.

"That's right." She answered.

"What do you know about them?"

"For one we know about their current situation involving you." Fox started. "We know why they want you dead, and we know who they are."

"I need this information. You're going to tell me willingly right?" Snake nervously asked.

"Woah! Calm down! No need to feel threatened, I'll tell you. But first we have to get out of the city. It's too dangerous to explain it all here. You got a weapon?"

"Of course."

"All right. We'll take point. Just follow me and Krystal." He commanded as he readied his blaster. Krystal and Snake readied their weapons and gave Fox the go-ahead. "Alright! Let's move!"

* * *

The trio entered an apartment building and made sure to check their corners for any surprise attackers. They walked up the stairs until they reached the roof. On the roof were three of those monster Koopas.

"Hostiles! Open fire!" Fox ordered as the three shot to kill. All three of their shots went through the target's heads, killing the three beasts in unison.

"Enemy down!" Krystal confirmed. The leaped onto the roof of the next building.

"Monkey soldiers! Take cover!" Fox ordered as the three hid behind whatever structure they could find. The Monkey soldiers were mutated members of what had remained of Andross' army. Their mutation wasn't didn't change much. Physically they looked hideous, but their mental mutation removed any ability to think for themselves. They were able to use guns, and their only purpose given to them by the mutation is to kill.

"How many are there?" Fox asked.

"Five." Krystal answered.

"I'll draw their fire! You two take them down." Snake shouted and ran out of cover. Revealing himself, the monkeys began to concentrate fire on Snake. Snake fired shots back as he ran. One of his bullets managed to hit one in the chest, but the monkey showed no signs of pain. Snake deduced that the mutation must have given them a very high tolerance for pain. Fox and Krystal got three of them by surprise, killing them with headshots. Snake rushed up close to the remaining two. He stripped one of its weapon and killed both of them with it.

"Targets neutralized." Snake muttered.

"Impressive Snake." Krystal complimented. "Let's keep moving!"

"On me!" Fox ordered.

The rest of the way went smoothly. The team got into a couple minor skirmishes and walked out without a scratch. They were approaching the exit of the city.

"I'm not getting any readings on the motion tracker. Looks like we're almost in the clear." Fox said as he looked at the gadget on his wrist. Suddenly, something massive landed behind them, causing a thunderous boom.

 _Of course it can never be that easy…_

They turned around to see a new type of mutant.

"A Darknut?!" Fox and Krystal exclaimed in unison. The Darknut swung the back of his hand and hit Snake, sending him flying several feet before landing on his back in pain. Fox and Krystal created distance between themselves and their massive adversary.

"Snake! Are you okay!?" Krystal cried out. Snake saw the Darknut draw out its massive sword from its sheath.

"Don't worry about me! Focus on that freak!"

Fox and Krystal opened fire on the large knight, which had no visible effect on the being. It slashed at the two space animals with its large blade, but they used their agility to evade the attacks. They couldn't keep it up forever though, they were bound to slip up at some point. Snake eventually got to his feet, and called Link on his codec.

" _Snake? What's going on?"_

"Link…A Darknut…there's even a Darknut here!" Snake explained between heavy breaths.

" _What?! A mutant Darknut?! What does it look like?_ "

"It's just…a LOT bigger than I remember them being. How do I stop it?! Fox and Krystal are with me!"

" _I know. I heard it over your monitor. What're they doing right now?"_

"Their fighting it directly. It's focusing on them. I guess it assumed that I'm dead."

" _Attacking from the front is useless…wait. Snake! Can you see the back of the Darknut!?"_

"Yeah!"

" _Perfect! Stab the back! That's the weak point!_ "

"Got it!" Snake drew out his knife. The Darknut had got the upper hand in the battle, smashing Fox and Krystal with his shield and stunning them. As it rose its sword for a killing blow, Snake jumped from higher ground and plunged his knife into a seam in the back of the knight's armor. The knight stopped moving, with Snake clinging onto his back ready to stab the weakpoint once more. To Snake's surprise, that one hit was all it took. The Darknut fell to its knees before lying dead on the ground. Fox and Krystal sighed with relief.

"Damn that was close! Thanks Snake." Fox said.

"Don't thank me, you two gave me a shot at the weak point."

"How'd you know about the weak point?" Krystal questioned.

"Link told me."

"Link's alive!?" Fox's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, I've been in communication with him through radio."

"I've got a radio too! The three of us can be on the same channel!"

"That sounds great, but I think it can wait for later. Why don't we get the hell out of here before something else shows up?"

"My thoughts exactly." Krystal chimed in.

"You're right. Let's get out of the city and find a place to camp."

* * *

The three traveled a good distance from the city before setting up camp for the night. Before getting down to business, they decided to catch up with each other. Krystal was sitting near their fire while Snake and Fox spoke.

"So, where's the rest of Star Fox?"

"You're looking at it unfortunately. It's just me and her."

"I'm sorry."

"I know Slippy and Peppy are dead, but I never found Falco's body. He could still be out there."

"True. What about Wolf?"

"I don't think he's dead either. Why you ask?" Fox questioned.

"Wolf and I actually had somewhat of a secret friendship during the tournament days. He and I weren't very social with the others at first, and then we found out we were both mercenaries. We were both "Dogs of War". Kind of funny considering he is a wolf. But yeah, we traded war stories and such. People seemed to think he's a bad guy, but when the time came he would do the right thing."

"Yeah. I remember when he helped me and my team out during a fight against the aparoids. I always had some respect for Wolf."

"He respected you too. He told me himself."

"Is that right? I'm glad to know that." Fox smiled.

There was a long silence between the two of them, with Snake seemingly waiting for Fox to say something.

"So were you planning on telling me you and her got married?" He chuckled. Fox's face went red in shock and embarrassment.

"What makes you assume we're married?" He spouted.

"There's a ring on your finger idiot. And it looks just like hers." Snake pointed out. Fox could only sigh in defeat.

"Why are you always so embarrassed when we tell people that Fox?" Krystal asked humoursly as she entered the conversation.

"No Krystal! It-It's not…embarrassment. It's…" Fox nervously stuttered before Krystal kissed him on the cheek and sat next to him.

"Always the professional huh?" Snake laughed.

"More than you'd think. But he's a real sweetheart deep down." She giggled with Fox laughing as well. A brief silence occurred before they began speaking again.

"So about the Committee…" Snake began.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget." Fox assured.

"Who are they?"

"They're people that you and I are familiar with. It's currently made up of Robin, Roy, Shulk and Marth."

"I know Marth, but I've only heard of the other three."

"Roy was in the second tournament, and made a return in the fourth. Robin and Shulk debuted in the fourth tournament."

"I see…so what is this group about? What was the purpose of its creation?"

"After the catastrophe, the four of them were pretty shaken up. Especially Marth. The civilians were devastated, and Marth felt that the people needed heroes, and they needed someone to build a new society. And of course, they need someone to govern that society."

"Well that's reasonable. Society needs some sort of governing body, or else it'd just be anarchy."

"I agree. So Marth presented the idea to the other three…and to me."

"To you?"

"Yeah. I was one of the original members. I believed it was our duty to rebuild the world that the other fighters destroyed."

"So what went wrong?"

"The other four had the idea of what "heroes" the people needed. Them. They wanted people to look at them as heroes once again. Then, news of your actions started spreading. You became a legend, a hero, the People's Champion. You became what they wanted to be without intending to. Needless to say, they didn't like it. You weren't the "Paragon of Virtue" they believe people should look up to. That's when things started going south."

"What exactly were they doing to earn a heroic reputation?"

"They built a city near the ruins of the Smash arena, not too far from here. It's called New Smashville. They run it, and there are people living there. They established a private police force to "make the people feel safe", but really it just served to extend their governmental control. They're trying to make other settlements join with them, but several refused because agreeing to the offer means that they have to be under their power. Reports are that they're actually hiring raiders to attack those settlements to make them feel that they'll only be safe under the Committee's rule."

"Sounds like they're on a power trip. What made you leave?"

"Those freak shows that you saw back in that city. They're not a result of some sort of mutagen created from the catastrophe. Those are man-made…and the Committee made them."

Snake sighed with disappointment "It's incredible how far down people's morals can fall…so what's their purpose? Are they bio-weapons?"

"You got it. They felt that bandits aren't capable of striking a strong sense of fear into people. They needed a menace that's powerful, and physically intimidating. So they created a toxin and deployed it into different areas. You can guess what it does."

"A "create your own villain" kit. How did they try to explain the reason behind it and attempt to convince you that it was not morally wrong?"

"They said "We won't let them kill any civilians. We'll destroy them so the people can see what true heroes look like". It was the last straw for me. I tried destroying the weapon development and they tried to have me killed. They have me branded as a traitor, but I'm not just going to hide. I will stop them!" Fox clutched his fist in anger.

"No Fox. We'll stop them! Us, Snake, Link and Zelda. We'll do this together." Krystal corrected him.

"She's right Fox. We'll need to work as a team if we're going to stop the Committee. It's not a one man job, not even for me."

"You're right. I'm glad we'll be on the same team." Fox smiled.

"So what about me? They want me dead, but they rely on bounty hunters. Why don't they just try to kill me personally?" Snake asked.

"Believe me, if they hadn't established themselves as a government body, they would be tailing your ass non-stop. But since they are, they fear that if the people learn that the legendary "Nomad" was killed by the Committee, it'll spark an outrage. You'll become a martyr, and they'll forever be seen as tyrants. A rebellion will rise. So yeah…not likely that they'll directly attack you. But as you may know, you've been a major pain on the bounty hunting business, what with you killing all the targeted criminals for the sake of good rather than profit. Bounty hunters have a personal hatred for you, and the Committee knows it. So they put that bounty on you, and the hunters jumped at the chance to get a chance at killing you. It's a mutual gain for both groups."

"Makes sense. Guess I should count myself lucky. So I've got four targets to kill. Are they all located in New Smashville?"

"I don't think so. Last I checked Marth is the only one there. The other three are going around running tests on the toxin."

"So they haven't finished it. Is that why I haven't seen any of those in the south?"

"That's right. But that will change if we don't stop them soon. We've got to take action."

"Got it!"

* * *

The next morning, Snake got Fox on him and Link's communications channel. He also was given a water canteen so that he could wash all the blood off of his face. It had started to an annoyance. Snake was then ready to be on his way.

"So what are you two going to be doing from here?" Snake asked.

"We'll be keeping people safe from those abominations, eradicating them one by one. But we'll also be digging for any information regarding the Committee's activities." Krystal answered.

"We'll update you if anything comes up." Fox said.

"Alright. Krystal…" Snake turned to the vixen "It was good to meet you. And Fox…" He switched his focus to Fox. "It was good to see you again. But for now, we must go our separate ways. I hope to see you again sometime."

Snake turned to leave, but Fox grabbed his arm. "Snake! Wait!"

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you know it's dangerous out here. You'll be running into more of those freaks in your travels. So I wanted to give you this." Fox reached in his pocket and pulled out a familiar looking weapon.

"That's Wolf's Blaster…"

"I found it in the ruins of some city. No body though, so I don't know if he's still alive. Either way, I'm sure he would want you to have it if anything happened to him." Fox explained.

Snake held the weapon in his hands, thinking about his old friend. "Thank you Fox. Who knows, maybe I'll run into him and I can give it back to him."

Saying their goodbyes, Snake turned his back and took his first step towards destroying the Committee.


	14. Robin

As Snake traveled, he received a call from Link and Fox.

"This is Snake. What's up?"

 **Link:** " _Hey Snake. Listen, Fox and I had been talking and we realized something."_

"What's that?"

 **Fox: "** _Other than Marth, you don't know anything about the other three targets. Not even what they look like."_

"Huh…yeah that…that seems like pretty important information. Care to fill me in?"

 **Link:** _"Of course, that's why we called."_

"What've you got for me?"

 **Fox:** " _We'll start off with Roy. You'll best identify him by his red hair."_

"Red hair? That's really all you can give me to go off of?"

 **Fox:** _"Trust me, it's really all you'll need."_

 **Link:** _"Of course like the other members of the Committee, Roy is an expert with a blade. He uses a Rapier. Back in the second tournament his moves were very similar to Marth's. However, Roy relies more on sheer power and brute force as opposed to Marth's agility and finesse. That blade is capable of setting you on fire, so watch your ass doesn't get fried."_

"Noted. What about Robin?"

 **Fox:** _"You can identify Robin with his white hair and he usually wears a black cloak."_

 **Link:** _"Now Robin is different from the others. It'd be a lie to say that he's just a swordsman. He's also a master tactician. Not to mention his arsenal isn't limited to a sword. Aside from his sword, he's got a tome that he can use for magical attacks. Fire, lightning, wind attacks. The list goes on."_

"Damn. Got any tips on how I can combat against that?"

 **Link:** _"Don't worry. He may have a lot of tools at his disposal, but he's got a weakness like everything. His weapons have a breaking point. If he uses one too often, it will break. He'll have to wait a while before he can reuse them. Use that time as an opportunity to get close and attack."_

"I'll do that. So what about the last guy…Shulk?"

 **Fox:** " _Shulk's physical traits are nothing special. He's a young guy with blonde hair, and he wears modern clothing. Believe it or not, you'll be able to identify Shulk from his weapon."_

 **Link:** " _The Monado…"_

"Monado? Never heard of that type of sword."

 **Fox:** " _We didn't either until Shulk appeared in the fourth tournament. There's only one in existence, and it's the one that he has."_

"Okay. What's so special it? What does it look like?"

 **Link:** " _For starters it's no ordinary sword. It's an energy blade. The surface of the blade is colored red, but when he needs to attack, the sword can change its shape and blue energy emits from the sword, taking the shape of a blade."_

"Sounds fancy. But again, what's so special about it? We all used energy swords back in the tournament, and they acted just like a sword."

 **Fox:** "Being an energy blade isn't what makes it special. It's the power that it allows Shulk to access. The Monado Arts. That power augments whichever ability he chooses for a certain amount of time. His jump, his speed, strength, durability. All of it can be enhanced with Monado Arts."

"The perfect blend of technology and a blade…"

 **Link:** _"I don't know of any weaknesses you can exploit. But even with all those powers, he's not invincible. You can beat him Snake!"_

"I'll do my best. Thanks for the info."

 **Fox:** _"No problem. Fox out."_

Snake and Link were the only ones left in the call. Snake was about to sign off but…

" _Snake wait!"_ Link called out.

"What's up?"

" _You wouldn't mind talking to Peach for a little bit would you?"_

"Of course not. Is there something wrong?"

" _Not really. She just wants to talk to you. She hasn't spoken to you since you left and I don't think we've been fair by not allowing her to speak with you."_

"Why'd you do that?"

" _We thought she might be too talkative and distract you from your mission."_

Snake let out a small laugh. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Set up a frequency for her. Maybe I'll need the moral support at some point."

" _All right then. I'll give her a way to communicate with her knight in sour armor."_ Link joked.

"Very funny."

" _For now, she's with Zelda so she's using her radio. I'll switch over to her now."_

" _Snake?"_ The princess called out from the other line.

"Hey Peach. It's been a while since we talked huh?"

" _Damn right it has!"_ She barked with anger. Snake flinched when she rose her voice, but he felt he deserved it.

"I owe you an apology. I'm sorry that I just took off like that. That was very rude of me."

Peach sighed and regained her composure, removing the anger from her. " _It's okay. I can't stay mad at you. And I think that freeing a group of over 50 slaves shows that you left with good intentions._ "

"Glad to hear that."

" _Just talk to me. How have you been doing?"_

"Well I'm not dead so that's a start."

" _Hilarious. But seriously, are you alright out there?"_

"You know me, I'm hanging in there. Doing the best I can."

" _They've been keeping me informed on what's going on. I heard about Samus and Falcon…"_

"Yeah…"Was all Snake could say in response.

" _I'm sorry! I shouldn't have brought that up…"_

"Don't worry about it."

" _And then this whole…"Committee" thing! How could those four turn into people like that?"_

"The end of the world and seven years can change people in many ways."

" _Creating monsters, Coercion, wanting to assassinate you! That's so unlike them! How could they become so evil?"_

"I can't say they're evil. That's a subjective term. In their eyes, what they're doing is for the good of the people, and that I'm the villain standing in the way. They're intentions were fair when they started, but their morals on what the right thing changed dramatically. Regardless, what they're doing is causing more harm than good, and they need to be stopped." Snake explained.

" _So you'll fight them? And you'll have to kill them?"_ She asked. Snake sighed grimly.

"I'd rather not…you know that…but I may have no other choice."

" _I understand. Just know that…I believe in you. I know that you'll do the right thing."_

"Thank you Peach…"

" _Stay safe."_ She said quietly before ending the call.

* * *

Snake came across a PSC guard post. There were only two men posted to guard it.

 _Maybe I can squeeze some info out of these two._

As he began sneaking up on the two, they also listened in on their conversation.

"Can I tell you something?" The one guard asked the other.

"Yeah, what's up?" The other guard responded.

"Are we…doing the right thing?"

Snake became more interested with this conversation after hearing the guards' question.

"What do you mean?"

"I joined up because I was told that we'd be helping people, a-and that we'd be making the wasteland a better place."

"Yeah so did I. What's your point though?"

"When we're stationed at settlements, all the citizens seem to hate us. They're annoyed with us. But they look to the "Nomad" guy as a hero. And even though the chairmen our telling us that he's a criminal, I keep hearing about the stuff he's been doing. And I have to say he really does sound like a hero. I mean! Why aren't we going out there freeing slaves from those camps?"

"Huh…now that you mention it, I've kind of been wondering the same thing. And I've been wondering what exactly it is that the chairmen are doing by going to different towns. I asked Chairmen Robin about it before he left and he said we're "dealing with the mutant threat". That's kind of a vague explanation if you ask me."

 _Huh? Sounds like they're keeping the grunts in the dark. I know that feeling._

"I agree. And from the reports I've been hearing, the mutant threat has been getting worse since we've been doing these tours. I…I wonder…"

"Hey watch it man. I think you might be getting into conspiracy territory. Don't want the chairmen hearing about that." The other guard warned. Snake made his moves, using a CQC slam on the first guard and knocked his weapon away. The other guard attempted to aim at Snake, but Snake snatched his rifle from his hands and knocked him down with the butt of the gun. With the two guards neutralized, Snake held them at gunpoint for questioning.

"Oh god! It's him!"

"Where are the chairmen?! Start talking!" Snake demanded.

"We-we only know where Chairman Robin is. We weren't told about where the others are traveling! You'd have to ask a platoon stationed in another area." The guard nervously explained.

"Alright fine! Where's he heading?"

"He's heading to…uh Kanto. Yeah Kanto, it's a Pokémon settlement."

Satisfied with the answers, Snake decided to test the two. "What is he going to do there?"

The two guards looked at each other in silence. "Well?!" Snake yelled aiming the gun to threaten them.

"We don't know! They didn't tell us! We were just told it was about dealing with the mutants! I swear!"

"You poor fools." Snake muttered and lowered the weapon. "The Chairmen aren't trying to stop the mutants. They're creating it!"

"What?!" The two guards' jaws dropped.

Snake explained to them the truth that was being kept from them. The bioweapon, the mutants, the purpose. All of it. The two grunts looked shocked and ashamed. Ashamed that they had taken part in the horrible experiment. The two looked as if they had nothing to lose.

"If you're finished with us, please go ahead and kill us." A guard requested.

"We deserve it…" The other agreed. Snake aimed the rifle, and unloaded the rifle. After the clip was emptied, Snake dropped the gun.

"I guess my aim is pretty bad today." Snake commented. The two guards were still alive, as Snake emptied the gun at the ground around them.

"Why did you…"

"Consider this the beginning of your new life. I've given you two the truth, now I want you to decide what you'll do with it. You can stop being a part of this, and start fighting what you really believe in. Got it!" He asked them and the two nodded. "Listen soldiers, we all have made mistakes, but that doesn't mean we can't make up for them. No matter how low things get for us, there's always a reason for us to keep fighting. Remember that!"

The two soldiers stood up and to his surprise, saluted him despite him having no military authority whatsoever.

"Thank you sir! We'll never forget this!" The two said before leaving the guard post to begin their new lives. A small smirk grew on his face as he watched the two soldiers take off with hope in their hearts. He remembered his mission, and took a look at his map. The soldiers had marked Robins predicted route on it. He began heading toward the Kanto location in hopes of catching up to the target.

* * *

At the entrance of the Kanto tribe was the aftermath of a battle. Robin and four of his elite bodyguards were standing over an injured Mewtwo, with some corpses of other Pokémon around.

"Why? Why are you doing this!?" Mewtwo questioned as he lied in pain.

"Pokémon were meant to serve people, not to roam free in the wild. We have to bring that back into society." Robin coldly explained.

"You power-hungry fool! My people deserve to be free! During these seven years, we have not once brought harm to any innocent people. I have made sure of it! Why can't you just respect my people's right to freedom?"

"Your people? Ha! Need I remind you that you aren't a Pokémon created by nature? You were created in a lab with the DNA of another Pokémon. You're a clone! A science project…and a failure at that." Robin taunted. "However when we use the mutant strain on you, you'll be a success. You'll become the ultimate weapon, the perfect monster!"

Mewtwo released a small laugh as Robin spoke.

"What the hell's so funny?"

"So that's what this is about? My, how pathetic you and your group have become." The Pokémon sneered. Not wanting to hear another word, Robin kicked Mewtwo while he was down, and then ordered his men to tie him up to have him taken back to their lab. Four pistol shots rang in the distance. Four bullets came, each one killed Robin's bodyguards. Robin looked around in a panic, and was shocked to see the shooter. It was Solid Snake.

"He's right you know." Snake said in reference to Mewtwo. "You and the other three are acting like children. You want to play the role of "the hero" but there's no Big Bad in your story for you to fight against. So you have to go ahead and make one."

"S-Snake! So we finally meet!" Robin arrogantly smirked although having small signs of fear. "You don't know us! We do what's needed for the good of the people!"

"Creating mutants that only want to kill and enslaving a species is all for the good of the people? That's not in the people's interest…that's for your interests."

"Shut up! You know nothing about what the people need!"

"And you do! Tell me, what do you hope to accomplish with my death? What will that do for the people?"

"You've become a false idol in the eyes of many. You're a terrible influence, showing people the wrong way to live! With you gone, we'll finally be able to show the people the right way of living." Robin explained.

"You think you and your little club are the ones to decide the fate of this world? You can't force your beliefs onto people. The people should be allowed to decide their own fate! Their lives aren't meant to be handled by four kids!" Snake retorted.

"I won't be lectured by YOU!" Robin screamed and charged at Snake with his Levin sword in hand. Snake smashed his fist against Robin's jaw, sending him flying back. Snake turned to Mewtwo who was still grounded.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine! But you have to stop him!" Mewtwo pleaded.

Snake turned back to Robin in time to dodge a firebolt launched at him. "C'mon kid, come to your senses! What you're doing isn't right. There's no need for bloodshed. I'll give you a chance to stand down."

Robin did not acknowledge Snake's offer and rushed towards him and sliced at him with his blade. Snake dodged the flurry of attacks and rolled away from his opponent.

 _Looks like I don't have a choice._

Snake drew out his combat knife and began clashing blades with Robin. While he couldn't get his blade in contact with Robin's flesh, he landed strike attacks against him whenever he got an opening. Robin launched Arcfire at Snake, briefly setting him ablaze. Snake remained calm, knowing it was magic and would got out on its own, despite the massive pain it caused. He wrapped his arms around Robin to catch him in a bear hug, causing Robing to feel the burn along with Snake. After the fire went out, Snake tossed Robin aside and fell to his knees, catching his breath after that painful experience. Robin launched Elthunder at the recuperating Snake, throwing him several feet back. The electric shock was painful but it was nothing compared to Ocelot's torture. Robin continued casting spells as it seemed to be working for him, but Snake caught on and evaded spell after spell. Snake remembered Link's advice, and how Robin's weapons had a limit to how much they could be used. Robin got too carried away with casting spells that his tome was now useless. He could only use his blade now. Charging at Snake, he began combating him with the Levin sword, powering it with electricity when necessary. Frustrated with being unable to hit Snake with his sword, he bashed his fist against Snake's "horn". Snake held his hand against his head, as he began to feel immense pain. He suddenly became very angry, which was unlike him. He had always tried to remain calm and collected, even during battle, but that blow just brought out his rage. He fighting style started becoming much more violent. He smashed his fists against Robin's face repeatedly, each one more powerful than the last. Robin panicked at Snake's sudden boost of momentum, and attempted a slow but powerful finishing blow. Time seemed to slow down as Robin swung his blade down. Snake caught the blade with his hands, yanked it from Robin, and then impaled him with his own sword. The anger subsided and Snake returned to his collected personality. Robin began coughing up blood and fell to the ground. Snake knew he was finished.

"I…I lost?!" Robin asked himself still stunned at his defeat.

You don't have much time left. You've got anything you need to get off your chest?" Snake asked.

"We…we lost everything that day. Friends…family…our way of life. The people looked up to us as heroes. But after that they had no hope. I wanted to help…but seeing the way they admired you when we were working so hard to help them…we felt betrayed. Your version of justice is so barbaric. I don't see why people admired it."

"I never claimed to do it in the name of justice. I wasn't trying to be anyone's hero nor was I trying to change the world."

"But this world needs changing!"

"Maybe so, but I won't allow four people to decide how it needs to change." Snake began to notice Robin's skin was rapidly losing color. He was out of time. Snake pulled out Wolf's blaster and pointed it at Robin's head. "I'm sorry kid…"

With those words, Snake pulled the trigger and took the life of the tactician. One down…three more to go…


	15. On the Way to Hell

"How're you holding up?" Snake asked Mewtwo as he helped him up to his feet.

"Do not worry. My wounds are not fatal. They were trying to take me alive after all." Mewtwo explained. He looked to at the corpses of his fellow Pokémon and sighed grimly. "If only the same went for my comrades."

Snake put Mewtwo's arm over his head so he could assist the legendary Pokémon with walking, as he was too weak to do so himself. "Where do you want me to take you?"

"Take me into the village. There is an infirmary there. They will be able to heal me." Mewtwo requested to which Snake nodded and they began moving to the village. "I owe you a great deal of gratitude. How lucky I was that you showed up when you did."

"What happened here?"

"For months, the members of the Committee had been trying to convince me to give up our freedom as Pokémon and work for them. They said they would offer "protection" and "great benefits". The fools should know I am psychic. I know when somebody is lying. And even then, you don't need to be psychic to know that they're bad liars."

"So I take it that "convincing" turned into "coercion"?"

"Correct. They came to enslave us. I had gathered our village's strongest warriors and we would defend our people with our lives. But their strength was just too much, not to mention they used a weapon that weakened Pokémon."

"Another bioweapon besides the mutant strain."

"Yes. They used this weapon to weaken and neutralize us. They wanted to take me back to their horrible lab and use the mutant strain on me. Thank you for not allowing me to be part of another experiment."

"Well…we failed experiments should help each other out don't you think?" Snake chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Mewtwo asked unsure as to what Snake meant.

"Just like you, I was created in a lab. I'm a clone that was created to be a weapon for the organization that created me. And like you, I failed to do what I was created to do."

Mewtwo let out a small laugh. "I see. How amusing that a human and a Pokémon have so much in common."

"I agree. But it's not how we were created that defines who we are. It's what we do with our lives."

"Wise words human."

"Go ahead and call me Snake."

"Oh…right! My apologizes, Snake. We're getting close to the village. My people will be uneasy upon seeing a human enter, so just let me do the talking." Mewtwo advised.

"Alright."

* * *

Snake entered the village with Mewtwo at his side. As Mewtwo had predicted, the inhabitants were not welcoming him with open arms. They all began hollering and getting into defensive positions, looking ready to strike at any moment.

"Do not be alarmed my friends! This man is not an enemy!" Mewtwo announced to his Pokémon brethren. "Quite the opposite in fact. This man just saved my life, and saved our people from enslavement!"

The Pokemon withdrew their defensive positions and stood at ease. They were quite surprised by the news of a human defending their kind.

"I declare this man to be a friend to all Pokémon, and you will all treat him as such!" Mewtwo ordered and the locals all hummed in agreement.

Snake handed Mewtwo over to the village's medical center, two Chanseys put Mewtwo onto a bed.

"The treatment shouldn't take too long. Until then, would you please stay for a little while? I have much I'd like to discuss with you." Mewtwo requested.

"Sure. I'll hang around"

"Thank you. Please feel free to relax in our village. And don't worry, my people will treat you kindly."

Out in the village, Snake found a campfire was set up and no one was around it. He sat down near it and relaxed himself. Suddenly an Eevee crawled up to him and nudged against his leg.

"Oh…hey little guy. Sorry if I got in your way." He kindly said. The Eevee brought a fruit with it and offered it to Snake. "For me?" He questioned to the creature, whom nodded in response. "Oh! Well thanks." Snake graciously said and took the fruit. He petted the Eevee as a means to express his gratefulness, as he couldn't speak with the creature. Though the fruit was unfamiliar to him he didn't hesitate to eat it. He wasn't that picky of an eater, and he was sure that the Pokemon were smart enough not to hand him food that was bad for him. Taking the bite into the fruit he found that it actually tasted very good and ended up finishing it. Afterwards he pulled out a cigarette and his lighter.

 _I haven't had a smoke in a while. Guess now would be as good of a time as any._

With the cigarette in his mouth he began flicking the lighter. To his frustration, it wouldn't produce a flame.

"Damn it! Stupid thing must be broken." He sighed. A Charmander saw his predicament and somehow knew it had a solution. It gestured to Snake to hold out his cigarette. Charmander then grabbed its tail and used the flame on the end of the tail to light the cigarette. Snake was amazed at the Pokémon's intuition, and thankful as well. "Thanks pal." He smiled and gave the creature a thumbs up gesture.

* * *

It didn't take long for Mewtwo to get healed up. Mewtwo invited Snake into his hut to speak.

"I hope that my people treated you well."

"Very well. They seemed to warm up to me immediately, despite me being human." Snake complimented.

"I'm glad to hear that." Mewtwo said as they both took a seat. "So, you are on a mission to assassinate all the members of the Committee?" He began.

"That's right."

"Are you aware of how dangerous of a task that is, and the power of the force that you're up against?"

"I am."

"I see…then why did you hold back in your fight against Robin?" Mewtwo questioned.

"Huh?"

"I could sense that you were not using your full power during that fight. You could have finished that fight sooner, but you held restraint. Why?"

"Guess you really are psychic. Yeah I held back. I try my best not to kill opponents if I think I have a chance of reasoning with them. Looks like I wasn't right in this case."

"I see. However you did start using more of your power after he struck the fragment lodged in your head."

"Yeah, I don't know what happened there. I felt like I was having a migraine and a nightmare at the same time. I lost my temper, and I did feel stronger. It was a similar feeling to an adrenaline rush. You think it has something to do with the shrapnel?"

"What is lodged in your head is no ordinary metal. I cannot say what it is, but I do know it is what activates that sensation. It seems to be a source of dormant power." Mewtwo theorized.

"You're not saying this gives me super powers are you?" Snake joked.

"Don't be ridiculous. More just enhance your physical capabilities. Strength, resistance to damage, how much damage you can tolerate…"

"Whatever power it gives me, I don't like it! I prefer to have full control of my mind and body."

"I agree…it does not seem to be good for you. All I can say is don't get hit in that area."

"That as sound advice as any." Snake agreed.

"Also…do not hold back when you fight the other three!" Mewtwo said in a serious tone. "I'm sorry but they cannot be dissuaded from their plan. They truly believe what they're doing is right. You have to kill them."

"I was afraid that might be the case. Even with his dying breath, Robin didn't seem to regret what he did." Snake mused.

"Whatever the case, you have earned the trust of my people and I. We will help you as best we can in your ordeal. The fate of the world cannot be entrusted to the Committee."

"Thanks."

"There is something I wish to give you that will aid you. It is a weapon created by the Committee." Mewtwo explained and handed the weapon to Snake.

"A machete?"

"Sword fighting swordsmen with a knife doesn't seem very practical. This should be a more viable weapon. However it is no ordinary machete. It is an elemental blade. The element type is up to you. Fire, Darkness, Winds, the list goes on. It was designed as an anti-Pokémon weapon. I feel more comfortable if it's in your hands."

"Sounds like the Committee has some advanced tech."

"Yes, but I believe you can stop them. We have faith in you."

* * *

With his new weapon in hand, Snake bid farewell to his new Pokémon friends and headed back into the wasteland. On his way out, he came across Robin's corpse, with a noise coming from his person.

" _R…R…Are…ou….arth…."_

 _The hell? Is somebody talking? I'm hearing a bunch of static._

Snake investigated the corpse and found he had a radio on him, and he was getting a call. He retrieved the radio and held it to his ear.

" _Robin! This is Marth! Pick up!"_

Snake grinned upon hearing Marth's voice. He pressed the call button.

"You're not going to be hearing from Robin anymore." He said into the radio.

" _What?! Who is this?!"_

"You know who I am!"

There was radio silence for a good minute.

"… _Snake…you bastard…"_

"I'll give you one chance. One chance to end this in way that will make things easier for all of us. You lift this bounty off my head, you destroy that bio-weapon and eradicate any mutants you created with it. And finally, you disband this stupid club of yours." Snake laid out the terms. "So what's your answer?"

" _Go to hell Snake._ " Marth responded coldly.

"I've been heading there my entire life…looks like you and your friends will be coming with me." Snake responded before crushing the radio in his hand.

* * *

Snake continued his trek through the wastes, running into a few mutants every now and then. They couldn't stop Snake, as they more or less just helped him practice using his new machete. Snake couldn't help but admire the blade and how effective it was.

 _Incredible! This things the weight of machete, but has the strength, durability and sharpness of a sword. Not to mention its elemental damage. Though I wonder…if they could create this, then what other types of toys does the Committee have in store?_

Snake was brought out of his inner thoughts when Fox called him on the radio.

"This is Snake."

" _Got some news for you Snake. Apparently you're not the only one out there doing vigilante work."_

"Oh really? Do tell."

" _There are two other vigilantes in that area with a bounty on them just like you. We don't have their names of course but I've got a good idea on who one of them is."_

"Alright. What's their alias then?"

" _First one is known as the "Green Missile". He's been seen wearing green, and he is said to mop up groups of thugs with a high speed headbutt."_

"Luigi."

" _Exactly what I was thinking. Now the other guy I'm not sure. He's known as the "Swordless Ronin". He's a drifter, kinda like you. But he clears out armed bandits with nothing but his hands and feet."_

"Sounds like a serious martial artist."

" _Regardless, I think it'd be good if you run into these guys. You could get some powerful alliance going on. I know you don't want us helping you since we don't want to have to worry about us, but these guys are in the same boat as you, so there's no reason for you guys not to team up."_

"I guess you're right. Thanks for tossing that info my way."

" _No problem. Fox out"_

With the end of the call, Snake went back into his thoughts.

 _All right. I've spent enough time screwing around. I need to find where the next target is. If I can find one of those PSC guard posts I can probably get intel there._

"FREEZE!"

 _Son of a bitch!_

Snake found himself surrounded by a gang of armed space animals.

"Well look who we have here." A cocky voice taunted. Snake knew that voice anywhere.

"So you decided to go back to the gang life Falco?"

"A guys gotta make a living Snake. With the world in ruins, clients in need of Star Fox's help became non-existant. And besides, we're not a gang! We're not in the slums dealing drugs and running from the police. We're bounty hunters, a job that'll always be available. Cause as long as there are people in the world, there's blood money to be made."

"From drug dealing to contract killing huh? Yeah, that's a much more dignified line of work." Snake sarcastically responded.

"Yeah, joke all you want, you're still the one about to get shot."

One of Falco's gang members got close behind Snake. In what looked like the speed of light, Snake pulled out his machete and decapitated the animal.

"SHIT! Kill him!" Falco ordered as he and his crew opened fire. Snake grabbed the corpse and used it to shield himself from blaster fire. He pulled out Wolf's blaster and returned fire before making it to cover. To his surprise, one of the gang was there waiting for him. He used the bayonets on Wolf's blaster to slice the animal's throat, and threw him aside. He looked out of cover to get a visual. He still had five gang members and Falco to deal with.

"You're not getting through this one Snake!" Falco taunted and threw a grenade where Snake was positioned. Snake saw as the grenade landed next to him.

"DAMN!" He cursed and sprinted out of cover to get away from the blast. As the grenade went off, he dove behind another piece of cover. During that time however, he took a blaster shot to the thigh. He ignored it, choosing to worry about it later.

 _Hope you still got that reflector Falco…_

Snake jumped out of cover and shot at Falco. As Snake thought, Falco activated the reflector to protect himself. Falco did not expect that it would redirect the bullets to hit two of his crew members.

"You sneaky fuck!" Falco roared in anger and began unloading his blaster towards Snake. "Surround him!" He commanded his three remaining subordinates. They got up close to Snake, which proved to be a huge mistake, as he quickly slaughtered them with the machete. Falco did manage to shoot him in the shoulder during that time. "Whatever! I don't need them! Now I can at least have the bounty to myself."

With his arm injured, Snake couldn't aim his blaster properly, his shots continuously missing their mark. Fox had heard the entire situation playing out, and was distraught over hearing his former friend had turned to working as a hitman. He didn't want to accept it, but he swallowed the fact.

" _Snake! You have to kill Falco!"_ He called out to him.

"I know that! But he's got the upper hand. I can't get close to him."

Falco pulled out a rocket launcher. He was ready to end this. But before he could aim it, he was hit from behind with great force. Snake looked to see that it was indeed Luigi, who hit him with his Green Missile. Falco landed face first in front of Snake, looking practically paralyzed.

"Snake! Finish him off!" Luigi called out to which Snake nodded. Snake pulled his machete out of its sheath and held it up.

"No! Please! I-I'm s-"

Swinging down the blade swiftly, Snake cut Falco's head clean off with one swipe. Snake cleaned the blade and sighed deeply, accepting the fact that he had once again ended the life of a former friend.

" _Snake I..."_

"Fox...don't...there's nothing to say. He was a friend, I fought him, I killed him. That's what had to happen. Let's just get back to the mission at hand okay?"

" _Yeah...you're right...Fox out."_


	16. Breather Episode

"You all right?" Luigi asked Snake and extended a hand to help him off the ground.

"I've had worse." Snake chuckled and grabbed Luigi's hand and got to his feet. "Though if you hadn't of shown up I'd be dead. Thanks. I owe you a drink."

"I'll get it out of you later." Luigi grinned. He then pointed to Snake's bullet wounds. "Those wounds. Are they serious?"

Snake waved his hand, dismissing any feeling of severity. "Nothing that some first-aid can't fix. Is there a place we can camp out?"

"Yeah I've got one. First we should grab whatever supplies these guys have for ourselves. They won't be needing it, will you guys?" Luigi jokingly asked from the dead bodies who obviously didn't respond. "Hah. I thought not."

"Good idea." Snake responded.

 _Wow. Luigi really has this survivalist routine down. Reminds me of myself._

Snake rummaged through Falco's corpse, taking his blaster and his reflector, knowing that the latter would be very useful. After they searched everyone else, grabbing food, ammo amongst other items, the made haste for Luigi's campsite. It was a very well hidden cave, with furniture in it and everything.

"This is more of a hut than a campsite." Snake observed.

"Well I'm in this area a lot so I thought making a small little home wouldn't hurt."

Snake pulled out his first-aid kit, an item he'd never go anywhere without. "If you want I can do the stiches for you." Luigi offered to help.

"Oh no thanks. I've got it." Snake respectfully declined. It took a couple of seconds but the question came to his head. "Wait! You know first aid?"

"Yeah."

"When did you learn? I don't remember you knowing it before the catastrophe."

"Cause I didn't. Afterwards I had to. People like us, drifters who wander the open land, place to place. If we get in a fight, we're on our own. And if you get hurt in one of those fights, you can't just hope that there's a doctor around. You gotta take care of your own wounds."

"Color me impressed! You're a true survivalist." Snake complimented. As Snake began tending to his wounds, Luigi started a fire.

"You know Falco and his goons were after me too." Luigi stated.

"Yeah, I've heard the Committee has you on the bounty list just like me."

"So you know about them?"

"I sure do. I know who they are and what they've been doing. If you want to know I can fill you in." Snake offered.

"Thanks, but I already know through my own investigations. Can't believe what those four are doing." Luigi said in disgust.

"Well…it's "those three" now…" Snake cryptically said.

"What?! You killed one of them?!"

"Robin. Caught him and his men trying to enslave Mewtwo and the other Pokémon."

"And you stopped the bastards. Incredible. That's three to go!"

"I take it your on this "Kill the Chairmen" mission too?" Snake asked.

"Of course I am! And it's not just because they want me dead, but because of all the sick things that they're doing."

"So you and I are on the exact same page. You thinking what I'm thinking?" Snake smirked.

"That the Nomad and the Green Missile should team up?" Luigi grinned.

"Damn right."

"Great! We can things done much faster now."

"Yeah, now I'll need to introduce you to my radio support."

"Radio support?"

"I've got Link, Zelda, Fox, Krystal and Peach backing me up through radio."

A large smile grew on Luigi's face. "They're all still alive?!"

"Alive and friendly." Snake noted.

"Things just get better and better." Luigi sighed in relief and laid down on his mattress. "It's just…good to see an old friend still alive but not trying to kill you…you know what I mean?" Luigi asked in a much more somber tone.

"I know exactly what you mean…" Snake responded grimly. "You had to kill any?"

There was a brief silence between them.

"You don't have to answer."

"No it's fine. If anything it helps to get it off your chest, especially to someone who knows what its like."

"Alright."

"I've had to kill Sonic, Red…and Mario."

"Mario lived! But he was right at ground zero, right at the source of the explosion!"

"He didn't live per say. He was a mutant. Those bastards retrieved what was left of him and turned him into a monster. He may not have been alive or human but…"

"It doesn't take away from the fact that he was your brother." Snake finished his sentence for him.

"I knew you'd understand. What about you? I mean aside from Falco and Robin." Luigi asked.

"Samus."

"Damn. I'm sorry."

"She was a good friend. I remember back when I was on the roster, rumors started spreading after people saw us hanging out."

"I think I know what you're talking about." Luigi chuckled.

"Yep. People were saying, "Snake and Samus are in love!". Boy did that piss us off. People making these assumptions. Then I heard that they gave us a nickname. What was it…Snakus? Something stupid like that."

"I guess it was because you two had a lot in common." Luigi threw his opinion out.

"Yeah well…having a lot in common does not mean instant romantic relationship."

"So you two really didn't have any romantic interest in each other?"

"Nope. We were both pretty professional about it. We would eat, train and talk. I did the same thing with Wolf. He was an animal, she was a female, but that didn't make a difference to me. I treated them the same, just as if they were a regular person."

"I get you. But it sort of sounds like you hate romance." Luigi pondered.

"That's not true, I've just never had time for it. And I'm just not very good at it quite frankly. Look at me! I'm 50 years old." Snake laughed.

"I'm sure you'll find someone." Luigi laughed back. "I remember when I did."

"You mean Daisy? Is she still alive?"

"I don't know. Never found a body." Luigi replied saddened.

"Good, that means there's a chance we can find her."

"Wow…I never thought of it like that. I had the assumption that her body might've been destroyed or is just unidentifiable."

"Well…that's certainly possible, but it's also possible that we can find her alive and well." Snake said.

"Man you're an asshole sometimes." Luigi laughed.

"Just trying to be realistic."

The two of them laid down preparing to get some sleep. But before then they had a brief discussion.

"So who are we going after next?" Luigi asked.

"I want to go after Marth last, so we're going after Roy or Shulk. Who we go after first depends on whose location we find first." Snake explained.

"There's some PSC guard post to the east of here. Maybe we can get some answers from there." Luigi suggested.

"Good idea. That's how I got Robin's location." Snake paused for a moment. "By the way, do you know about a vigilante by the name of "The Swordless Ronin"?"

"I've heard the name, and I might know who it is." Luigi confirmed.

"Who?"

"Martial artist named Ryu that arrived during the fourth tournament. Even before the end of the world the guy would drift around the world looking for opponents. You think we should get him on our side?"

"If we run into him, then of course."

"Agreed. So tomorrow we make for that guard post. Is that the plan?"

"That's right." Snake answered.

"Great. Tomorrow is going to mark the beginning of the end for the Committee!" Luigi fumed with determination.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoy a little meta commentary. You probably won't see it again in this story.**


	17. Sidetracked

After a night of rest, Snake and Luigi strapped up for the day's mission. With their weapons and equipment ready, they made haste to the PSC guard post that Luigi had mentioned the last night.

"You got any idea on how much manpower we'll be up against?" Snake asked.

"Nothing clear, but from the ones I've come across, there's usually only 6 guards at max, 2 guards at least." Luigi said.

"Yeah, I only had to deal with two at the post where I found Robin's location." Snake explained which reminded him of the two soldiers he spared. "By the way, if you sense any hesitation or doubt from any of the soldiers, try to spare them if you can."

Luigi was perplexed by such a suggestion. "Why's that?"

"They may seem like a tyrant police force, but I got a feeling that most of them joined up with well intentions. They joined because they really did think they would be working to help the people. They're being kept in the dark about the true nature of the mutants."

Luigi was unsure about the idea but eventually gave in. "All right, but only because I trust you."

"Thanks. Obviously I'm not suggesting we go non-lethal. We're going to have to take some lives if need be. Don't hesistate."

They showed up to the guard post and weren't expecting what they saw. "Holy shit…" Luigi muttered. There were six guards, but that wasn't the problem. The guards were mutants, mindless gunmen.

"They'll even use their own men as test subjects…" Snake cursed. He readied his weapon, checked his ammo. "Interrogation is out of the question now. We have to eliminate all the mutants."

"Right. Though I've heard that some of the guard posts have documents regarding travel routes. If we're lucky, we may find one after we get rid of all these freaks." Luigi hoped.

"Good to know. Oh and word of advice, don't rely on guns. Their mutation isn't very obvious but it makes them very resistant to bullets. However a blade works fine."

"You're better with blades. I'll draw their fire. You get in close and cut em' apart." Luigi planned.

"Got it. Let's go!"

The two jumped out of cover. Snake drew out his machete, while Luigi armed himself with a modified super scope turned into a SMG. Luigi fired at the mutant troops, knocking one to the ground. The other five faced towards Luigi and opened fire. While they weren't accurate shooters, the sheer number of bullets flying wouldn't allow Luigi to stand in the open. Snake entered from the side unseen, and killed the soldier Luigi knocked to the ground. He moved to the next one and decapitated him. The other four noticed Snake and turned to shoot. Snake rolled into cover before he could get pumped with bullets. Fortunately, they had finally used up all of their ammo. They went to reload their weapons.

"Luigi! Now!" Snake shouted across the field. The two jumped out of their cover and rushed towards the soldiers with blades. They each took two out, defeating all the enemies on the field.

"That wasn't too hard." Luigi sighed and wiped the sweat off of his forhead.

"All right. Let's check for any travel records in that tent." Snake pointed to said tent. Entering the tent, there was a desk inside, and a filing cabinet filled with documents. Luckily there would be no need to be digging through the cabinet, as the file they were looking for was right on the desk. Snake picked up the folder and read the contents. It was the most recent travel log.

"What do we got?" Luigi asked.

"It's on Shulk. This was filed a day ago. Says that he's heading to…Gaur Plain?" Snake looked closely at the name. "I can't say I know where that is. Do you?"

"Yeah I know where it is. It was Shulk's home stage back in the tournament, but aside from the part used as a stage, it's a really big area. But why the hell would he go there? True to its name it really is a plain. There's no cities or anything, and the place must look terrible after the catastrophe." Luigi thought.

"I don't like the sound of that. Something must be going on over there, he can't be going there for sight-seeing." Snake feared.

"It's south from here, it'll be about a day's trip on foot."

"Well let's not waste any time." Snake finished and the two took off to the south.

* * *

Back at Hyrule, Link went to the throne room to speak with Zelda.

"Princesses." He said as he entered the room. He pluralized to address Peach, who was in the room with Zelda.

"Hi Link!" Peach warmly greeted.

"Hello Link. Is there something you need?" She asked.

"I came to update you on the talks with Koopa Keep regarding the possibility of merging into one state."

"Oh good! Has Murphy given you his decision yet?"

"Sort of…" Link paused, Zelda looking curious. "He asked his people about it, and they agreed, but they want Snake to be a part of the government. That's their one condition."

"Snake?!" Zelda said surprised. Peach also had a look of surprise.

"You don't think he would make a good leader?" Link asked.

"It's nothing like that…" Zelda quickly said dismissing the assumption.

"I think Snake doubts whether he'd be a good leader." Peach frowned and also getting the curiosity of the other two.

"What do you mean Peach?" Zelda asked.

"Snake told me himself that he doesn't think of himself as being the type of person to lead a civilization."

"That's pretty ironic considering how this idea is his brainchild." Link said.

"Did they say why they want Snake to be a part of the government?" Zelda asked.

"Well I think it's pretty obvious. He's a hero. He's more charismatic than he gives himself credit for. Hell, even our people practically idolize him after he freed that entire slave camp. Lucina told me that she'd always be willing to fight and die for him if need be. He's really left an impression on the people."

"Have you told him about this?" Zelda further questioned causing Link to let out a frustrated sigh.

"No…and I don't plan on it. Especially since Peach just told us how he feels about it. If I tell him it'll just distract him, it'll be a burden on his mind. We can't allow that due to how dangerous his mission is. We need him to come back alive." Link reasoned.

"I understand…we won't tell him about this until he gets back. Tell Murphy the situation. They may have to wait awhile for a clear answer."

"Yes princess." Link bowed before leaving the room.

* * *

"How much longer till we get there?" Snake asked.

"About 6 hours." Luigi answered.

"Alright. We're not sleeping tonight, I want to make it in one trip."

"No arguments here."

Suddenly in the distance, they heard the sobs of woman.

"You hear that?" Luigi asked.

"I did. It's up ahead! Let's go!" Snake said and moved to a sprint. They went up a hill and saw a young woman with blue hair on the ground crying. Snake then looked ahead of her and saw two PSC soldiers with flashlights coming towards her direction. Snake put two and two together and concluded they were looking for her.

"She looks like she's starving." Luigi noted.

"I think she might been held prisoner somewhere, and she made her escape. You can only get so far without supplies though."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Over there! Look closer!" Snake pointed to the soldiers.

"Shit! What do you want to do?"

"Simple…" Snake said and pulled out a sniper rifle. With incredible speed, Snake killed the two guards with two well placed shots. The sound of gunfire made the woman panic. Snake and Luigi ran to her aid, but in her hysteria she got up, took out a knife and wildly swung at them.

"Don't you touch me!" She screamed. The two easily avoided her attack.

"Ma'am please calm down! We're here to help!" Luigi tried talking sense into her. She charged into Snake with her knife in hand. Snake disarmed her and grabbed her arm, then wrapped his other arm around her to restrain her. She glared at him menacingly and tried to free herself but could not overpower him. She broke into tears and buried her head into Snake's chest. He let go of her arm and wrapped his other arm around her, and he slowly sat her down. She drew her head out of Snake's chest and looked at him.

"S-s-so…you're n-n-not one of them?" She said between he sobs.

"Can you define "them"?" Snake asked even though he had a good idea of what the answer was.

"The Committee's men."

"No, we're not with them. We're actually being hunted by them. Seems like you're in the same boat." Snake reached into his bag and pulled out one of his rations. "You need to eat. Here."

Handing her the ration, she was quick to dig into the meal. "Thank you." She said after finishing. Snake picked her up in his arms bridal style and began to move. The woman, exhausted, passed out in his arms.

"Looks like our trip to Shulk is going to have to wait Luigi. We have to get her safe."

"Right. But where are we going to bring her?"

"I'd normally call Link to send a rescue party, but I can't ask him to send his men all the way up here. We'll worry about that later. Let's find a place to hide out in for the night."

* * *

Taking the woman into a nearby cave, they set up camp in there for the night to guarantee her safety, serving her another meal as well.

"You're not injured are you?" Snake asked.

"No, I was just very tired. Thank you for your concern. Who are you two?" The lady asked.

"I'm Luigi, and my friend here is Snake." Luigi introduced for them.

"Can we ask who you are?" Snake questioned.

"My name is Caeda."

"Nice to meet you Caeda."

"Snake and Luigi…you're the men that my husband wants dead." She realized. Snake and Luigi looked to each other confused.

"Uh…who is your husband?"

"The leader of the Committee, Marth Lowell."

The answer stung Snake and Luigi in the back. This had just become an uncomfortable situation.

"Looks like we have…a lot to discuss." Snake sighed.


	18. Shulk

"Actually…I guess I could say I'm a widow now. The Marth that I knew, that I fell in love with…he died some time ago…" Caeda teared up.

"So you know about what he and his group have been doing?" Snake guessed.

"That's right…though I didn't find out until recently. I had my suspicions, but I had found out when I ease dropped on a conversation between him and the other chairmen."

As she spoke her voice began to shake, and she started to cry. Snake grabbed a handkerchief out of his bag and gave it to her. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Thank you." She replied to his kindness.

"So what happened that caused the Committee leader's wife to be on the run as a prisoner?" Luigi asked.

"I confronted Marth about what I heard. I told him it was wrong but he tried to convince me that it was only temporary and that "sacrifices had to be made for the greater good". I didn't buy any of it, so I told him I was leaving…"

"Let me guess…he wasn't going to let that happen?" Snake filled in the blanks.

"That's right. He had me confined within New Smashville's prison. He told me that I just needed time to think so that I'd understand."

"When did you escape?" Luigi asked.

"Two days ago…and that's what brought me here to you two. I'm glad it turned out that way. I knew you weren't the horrible men that the Committee had painted you out to be." She gave a small smile.

"Well, we're not perfect, but we behave." Luigi joked. Snake's face looked very grim on the other hand. Caeda noticed it.

"Is something wrong Snake?"

"Tell me something. Do you get the impression that Marth and the chairmen honest to God believe that they are helping the world?"

Caeda frowned at the question. "I do…I was Marth's wife. He loved me. He would always at least consider the things I would say. But this time, he was absolutely insistent that I was wrong."

"I was afraid of that."

"Yeah…I got the same impression from Robin."

"Robin? You met with him and you're still alive?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"I killed him." Snake bluntly responded. Caeda gasped in surprise.

"Killed him! Then why are you two staying in this area! They'll be tightening up security, they'll be coming after you personally now!" Caeda explained sounding frightened.

"That's the idea." Luigi answered cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"Caeda…we're on a mission…a mission to stop the Committee. Unfortunately, diplomacy seems to be out of the question. We may have no other choice then to kill them." Snake said. "What I'm getting at is…"

"You'll eventually have to fight Marth…and you'll kill him?" She finished for him but asked for clarity. Snake sighed at the idea.

"I'd really rather not…but like I said, I don't think he'll give me a choice. But please…tell me right now if you think that I can convince him that what he's doing is wrong, and we can stop it without bloodshed. Or is he too far gone?"

There was silence in the cave for a solid minute. Caeda thought about the question intensely. She wiped a tear away from her eye and spoke. "No. You'll have to kill him." She finally answered. Snake lowered his head and sighed again. He had a feeling that would be the answer.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, unable to imagine how she must be feeling after having to tell him to kill her husband.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Like I said, the Marth I knew must've died a long time ago. With all the things he's been doing, he has to be killed."

"I'm glad that you understand."

"Can you at least answer something for me? If you don't mind." She asked a favor.

"Anything." Snake assured.

"You said you're on a mission. Who hired you for this job?" She asked.

"Oh! No you're mistaken. Nobody hired us. We're not getting paid for any of this." Luigi chimed in. Caeda looked wildly confused.

"Then why are you two doing this? You're going up against the most powerful force in the wastes for no reward. Why you?"

"Well for one, we're the only ones who can." Snake began. "I mean anybody can go and try, but they've got so much to lose. Civilians usually have families to take care of, and settlement leaders can't fight them unless they want a war waged on their cities. But we're nomads. We have no home, family, designated roles, and you can even say we have no real name. We answer to no one, and no one answers to us. Whatever we do, we chose to do it by our own will."

"So what made you choose to do this?" Caeda asked the golden question.

"Because we believe it's the right thing to do. We may sound like we only live for ourselves, and that may have been the case at some point. But then we realized that living for the purpose of survival is just delaying the inevitable. So instead, we'll use our skills to help the people of the wastes. Whether it's stopping raiders, freeing slaves, or stopping an organization from creating its idea of a utopia through bioweapons and coercion, we'll do it or we'll drop dead." Snake explained to the woman, who could see the fired determination in his eyes. She looked to Luigi who simply stated…

"Same thing that he said." And smiled.

"That's incredible noble of the two of you." Caeda smiled at the two nomadic warriors.

"Thank you." Luigi happily replied. Snake just remained silent. Snake suddenly received a call over the codec.

* * *

"This is Snake."

" _Snake, it's Fox. I heard that you've got a civilian that needs an escort."_

"Hmm…don't know if civilian is the right word. She's actually…"

" _I'm kidding. You do remember that we can hear what you hear through this thing don't you?"_

"Oh…right. Anyway, you said you can escort her?"

" _Just give us your location and me and Krystal will be there in the morning._ "

"The morning? That's pretty damn fast. Where will you take her?"

" _To Hyrule of course."_

"Fox! That's a hell of a walk!"

" _Don't worry, we won't be walking. I've got a surprise. Just give us your location."_

"Alright…"

* * *

"Just got a call in from a friend. Caeda, tomorrow two friends of mine are coming to pick you up and will escort you to Hyrule. There you'll be under the protection of Princess Zelda and Link. That is if you're okay with that?" He asked.

"It's okay. I trust you." Caeda responded.

"Ok. Don't worry, they're nice people. They'll treat you like one of their own. You're safety is assured. Luigi and I will continue with our task."

"Will I ever see you two again after tomorrow?" She asked.

Snake turned to her and wasn't going to lie. "It all depends on whether we succeed or not…" he stopped and caused her to frown. "however if we succeed, I'm planning on taking a nice long break back at Hyrule. What about you Luigi?" He smirked.

"Sounds damn good to me. Been dying to see my friends again."

"Good. Alright, let's try to get some sleep."

The other two began tucking in to their sleeping mats. Snake was getting ready to, and he took off the upper part of his suit to cool off. Caeda saw his upper body and was unsettled by the amount of scars that littered his arms, chest and back. Not to mention taking into account the shrapnel in his head.

"You look like you've been through hell…" She said to him feeling pity for him.

"I have. You could say that I came from hell, or that I'm a demon." Snake responded with dark humor.

"Well if you are a demon, then you really suck at it!" Caeda laughed.

"Yep! Snake the Friendly Demon they call him. All the other Demons pick on him for it too." Luigi joined in.

Snake couldn't help but laugh along with the two of them. Laughter, joking, feelings that Snake wasn't too familiar with. When he felt them it was always refreshing. Moments like these, are moments he believed everyone should have. Moments like these…are what he fights for.

* * *

Snake woke up early the next morning and kept watch for Fox and Krystal's arrival.

 _Make it here in the morning. How is that possible? Even if they sprinted non-stop, it would take two more days to get here._

Snake then heard a familiar sound roaring in the distance. Familiar, but a sound he had not heard in seven years.

 _Is that…a car running?_

His question was answered as he saw Fox and Krystal approach from the distance in a running, fully operative vehicle. Fox parked in front of the cave.

"Here's that surprise I was talking about." Fox grinned.

"Where the hell did you find it?"

"Some abandoned garage in a town of mutants. Surprisingly it was practically untouched. Everything was working, and the keys were nearby."

"Well that's great and all, but it's only a matter of time before that thing runs out of gas."

"That's what I thought too." Fox said.

"It turns out, the fuel of this car isn't oil. Whoever made it was able to make some sort of self-sustaining fuel device. It'll never run out, because it makes its own." Krystal explained.

"Incredible…" Snake thought.

"You got the VIP?" Fox got to the reason they were here.

"Yeah, let me go wake her up."

* * *

Snake woke Luigi and Caeda up. Luigi and Fox were joyed to see each other again. Other than that, there wasn't much to be said. Snake and Luigi said their goodbyes to Caeda, hoping to see each other again. Fox and Krystal took off with Caeda, and Snake and Luigi resumed their mission. Several hours passed, and they finally arrived at Gaur Plain. It was no longer bright and colorful, but more drab and dilapidated. Burnt trees, dead plants and dead grass.

"This is it. We're here." Luigi said.

"You were right, this place really is just a plain. We should keep walking, see if we can find Shulk. Shouldn't be too hard since there's no place to hide. The same goes for us however, so let's be cautious." Snake instructed.

"You got it."

It only took them a couple of minutes before they found why Shulk was really here. In the distance they saw a building, and Luigi was shocked.

"That wasn't here before!"

"I figured. It looks like it was constructed not too long ago. And due to the fact that I see the Committee's goons guarding it, I think it's safe to say I think we found where our target is." Snake concluded, scouting the area through his binoculars.

"What kind of place do you think this is?"

"No way to tell from out here. There's only one way we can find out."

"Right! Let's sneak in there!" the man in green readied himself.

They slowly and quietly made their approach. Snake and Luigi stopped when they were nearing the front door.

"That's the only entrance, but it looks like there's only two guys guarding it. I'll shoot the one on the left, you shoot the one on the right." Snake planned and attached a silencer to his pistol.

"Gotcha." Luigi responded and did the same with his weapon. The two aimed for their respective targets.

"On my command…fire!" Snake whispered. With their synchronized shots, the two guards went down at the same time. The two proceeded and entered the building. Looking around they saw what this place was.

"It's a laboratory!" Luigi realized. "This must be where all their fancy tech is made."

"And their bio-weapons…" Snake further deducted and pointed to a room with vials of the bio weapon being stored. As they moved further and killed guards in their way, the came across a large room where other weapons were being developed. And in there they found who they were looking for, Shulk.

"That's him Snake!" Luigi identified the target.

"That's a strange looking blade…that must be the Monado." Snake observed.

"Alright Snake, how do you want to do this?"

"Well after seeing this place, it's become clear to me that we can't just take him out. We have to take this whole place out too."

"I was thinking the same thing. Got any ideas?"

"You go ahead and sabotage the place. I'll attack him."

"Alright. You better not take too long though. I'm going to make sure this place crumbles, and I don't want you in it when it does."

"I know. Don't worry about me, and do not wait for me. When you finish, you get out. Hopefully I'll meet you out there."

"I hope so. Good luck!" Luigi said and took off with his weapon in hand. Snake jumped down and approached Shulk and his guards from behind. He removed the suppressor from his pistol and shot a guard dead. In the process, he got the attention of everyone in the room. They guards all readied their weapons and aimed at Snake, who put his weapon away.

"SNAKE!" Shulk shouted. His British accent along with the blonde hair reminded Snake of his dead brother and arch-enemy Liquid. Snake simply glared at the swordsman. An arrogant smile grew on Shulk's face. "I was told you were an expert in stealth. Yet here you are, revealing yourself to me and all of my men."

Snake continued to be silent, just standing where he was.

"Not up for conversation? Fine by me. Open fire!" Shulk ordered to his men. Snake pulled out Falco's reflector and activated it, surrounding himself with a barrier. The volley of bullets were returned to their senders. His plan had worked. Every guard in the room was eliminated in an instant, clearing the room with just him and Shulk, who was visually shocked.

"You kids are more arrogant than I thought." Snake finally spoke to him. "Robin only had four guards, yet it took me less time to kill all twenty of yours than it did to kill them."

Shulk clenched his fist and it shook. As if this wasn't enough, suddenly an explosion went off in one of the labs, followed by another. "You son of a bitch! What's happening?!"

"We're putting an end to this. The world was already destroyed once…I won't let you and you're group make it twice." Snake pointed at Shulk as he explained. Shulk grew furious and grabbed the Monado.

"SPEED!" He shouted and activated the art. An aura surrounded his feet and he ran at Snake with incredible speed. He swung at Snake, who pulled out the Elemental Machete to block his attack. Shulk attempted to disorient Snake by constantly moving, but Snake's focus would not be broken. "You can't understand! What we're doing is to save the world! These mutants will eliminate the criminals of the wasteland. Our actions may be morally gray, but sacrifices had to be made." Shulk explained his reasoning while clashing blades with Snake.

"I understand the "ends justify the means" mentality, but that doesn't work when the means are wrong! Those monsters are killing civilians!" Snake retorted.

"That's not true!" Shulk angrily shouted and his attacks became fierce. The tip of his blade caught flesh, and grazed Snake's stomach. Snake kicked Shulk away from him, but Shulk charged towards him. Snake used Shulk's momentum against him as Shulk ran right into a CQC slam, putting Shulk on his back. Shulk rolled away before Snake could follow up, but the pain was stinging.

"I caught Robin trying to infect a tribe of innocent Pokémon with the mutant strain. Care to justify that to me?"

"Like I said, sacrifices have to be made."

"Why don't you just go out and kill the bandits personally? Now you have monsters and bandits to deal with!"

"We can't leave the people to go out on hunts! We need to govern and protect them, they'd be vulnerable while we're gone!"

"You underestimate the strength of the people! They're tougher than you believe. They can handle themselves. They don't need a group of kids to decide what's best for them!"

They exchanged attacks, both blocking the others'.

"Besides! Killing bandits is not the solution to saving the world."

"That's rich coming from you! All you know is how to kill!" Shulk attempted to anger Snake with that taunt.

"No…killing is not the only thing I know…I'm just very good at it." He admitted. Snake swung his machete and caught Shulk in the left arm. Shulk cried out in pain as a gash appeared on his limb. "I may be killing you and your group, but I know that there's much more to be done to help people once I finish. Killing you four and your monsters is just the first step."

More explosions occurred, and the mutant strain lab was destroyed, along with all the vials.

"NO!" Shulk screamed as the creations were annihilated. Snake landed a right hook to Shulk's face, and slashed his other arm. Shulk unexpectedly pulled out a gun and shot Snake in the chest. The Kevlar on his Sneaking Suit caught the bullet, but the impact felt like a massive punch and staggered him. Shulk fired again but Snake activated the reflector, making the bullet go through Shulk's hand, forcing him to drop the gun.

"I don't know what happened to you and your group, but you all lost track of an important lesson regarding heroism."

"And what's that supposed to be!" Shulk asked and grabbed the Monado with one arm. Snake dodged Shulk's attack. Shulk swung again, which would be a fatal mistake. Snake parried the attack with his machete and sliced Shulk's arm clean off. The swordsman fell to his knees, his body entered a stage of shock.

"It takes more of a man to save a life…" Snake paused and thrusted the machete through Shulk's chest and into his heart. "Then to take a life…" He finished with a sigh of disappointment. He pulled his weapon out of Shulk, who fell to the ground dead. Seeing that the destruction happening around him, Snake knew that Luigi had succeeded. Snake ran to the exit and escaped the lab before it came crumbling down.

* * *

Snake and Luigi met up on a hill, and overlooked the destroyed lab in the distance.

"You got him?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah, confirmed kill. What a waste…" Snake lamented. "Him and Robin, they were still young. Marth and Roy are too. Yet their wasting their youth."

"Yeah. I can't help but imagine the good they could all do for the world if they were still on our side. I mean what went wrong? What happened to them to make them think what they're doing is right?" Luigi wondered aloud.

"I really don't think it matters anymore. Even if we find the answer to that, it won't take away the pain of seeing what they've become. It won't even lessen the pain. They made their choice…we just have to accept that." Snake advised.

"I guess you're right."

"Well…now to hunt for Roy's location." Snake said clearly not looking forward to the intel search.

"Actually, we don't need to." Luigi said.

"What?"

"While I was destroying the place, I heard guards talking about where he is. I squeezed the info out of one of them to make sure."

"And?"

"The ruins of Mushroom Kingdom…"


	19. Triumvirate

Snake and Luigi continued with their perilous journey of the wasteland. Their next stop was the ruins of the Mushroom Kingdom, a place that was long-forgotten since the Catastrophe. It was certainly a husk of a once bright, colorful and thriving kingdom, and it was assumed to now be baron. Needless to say, the discovery of the Committee's presence there created a lot of questions.

"Have you ever been there since the Catastrophe?" Snake asked his friend who was a former resident.

"No, I haven't. It's strange…I would've thought that it would be the first place I would go after the incident, just out of concern and curiosity. To see who and what made it through. But honestly…I feel afraid more than anything. Afraid of what I might see." Luigi admitted.

"That's an understandable feeling, nothing to be ashamed about. It was your home. No doubt it's where a lot of happy memories took place. Then to possibly see the whole place reduced to ash, would be heart-breaking."

"Yeah. But it's been seven years since then. After all the shit I've been through over that time, not to mention these past few weeks, I think I'm prepared to go back."

"Glad to hear it. The one thing we know is that the place can't be just a crater. There's something there that's important enough for one of the Committee leaders to pay a visit."

Snake began to receive a call on his radio. He patched it through.

"This is Snake." He gave his usual response.

" _Hello Snake."_ A soft, kind voice said over the radio.

"Hey Peach. What's going on?"

" _Link told me that you're heading to the ruins of my…my kingdom."_ She said clearly troubled thinking about those last two words.

"That's right. What about it?"

" _Well I thought maybe I could help out a little, tell you guys about what to expect there."_

"So you've been there after the incident?"

" _That's right."_

"Well if you know anything about what the area looks like, that'd be very helpful."

" _Okay then. Though it's been a while since I was there, so I may not remember everything."_

"Just tell me as much as you can. Anything helps." He assured.

" _For starters, the outer part of the kingdom got the worst of the disaster. Any of the areas farther than the main city are nothing but destroyed buildings and debris."_

"I figured as much."

" _But the inner cities are still relatively intact. You'll definitely see buildings that are heavily damaged, but a lot of them are still standing."_

"Alright. I guess that's the most likely spot for us to come across any type of resistance. What about your castle?"

" _Like the buildings, damaged but structurally sound. Other than that, that's all I know I'm afraid._ "

"That's all right Peach. Thanks for your help."

" _I just don't understand. I don't know of anything there that would be of interest to the Committee. What are they looking for?"_

"Well I'm going to find out. Thanks Peach."

" _Stay safe Snake."_ She said before the call ended.

* * *

"What'd she say?" Luigi asked.

"She gave me an idea of what to expect there, what areas are heavily damaged, that sort of thing."

"She have an idea on what they might be searching for?"

"No…however I'm getting the feeling that they're not looking for anything." Snake deduced.

"Really?"

"Think about it. Shulk was at Gaur Plain, and you said there shouldn't be anything of interest there. It was a barren land, but when we got there we found a laboratory built by them. It was a damn good hiding place."

"I think I see where you're going. They're setting up bases of operations in places that are thought to be empty of resources. Hide them in places people don't go."

"Yeah. And according to Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom still has buildings, and even the damn castle still intact. There's no need to build from the ground up, they can just move their equipment into those buildings." Snake explained.

"You're right! But what do you think their doing there? We just destroyed their lab that developed all of their weaponry, including the mutagen."

"I'm not sure what it could be, but I'm not looking forward to finding out."

"Agreed friend. Regardless, we're wasting time thinking about it. We'll figure out a plan when we get there. Let's go Snake." Luigi said and the two made haste.

* * *

Night began to fall, and the skies grew dark. It was the time for Snake and Luigi to look for temporary shelter. Luigi then saw something strange in the distance.

"Snake! Take a look over there!" Luigi pointed to the location. Snake looked and the two were surprised to see a cave with a bit of light emitting from the entrance. They assumed it to be a campfire. "I don't know anyone besides us that uses a cave for shelter."

"Neither do I. Let's check it out." Snake suggested.

"We're not going to hurt them are we?" Luigi stopped Snake before they proceeded.

"Of course not! Unless they're our enemies. Other than that it could be somebody that needs help." Snake gave his reasoning.

"You're right. I'll be right behind you."

The two made their way into the cave, taking each step with caution. They ended up coming across the source of the light. As they guessed it was a campfire, but they didn't see anyone around. But then they heard a man fiercely shout, and a blast of energy hit the rock wall right next to Snake, stopping both of them in their tracks.

"Take another step and I will kill you!" The man threatened, insinuating that the previous attack was a warning shot of sorts. The man was farther back in the cave, and Snake could only make out his silhouette, but could tell he was in combat position.

"Take it easy! We don't mean any harm!" Snake attempted to calm things down.

"Is that so?" The man asked, sounding unconvinced.

"That voice…that attack…I remember!" Luigi said to himself. "Ryu! Ryu it's me! Luigi! Remember?"

Snake was surprised. He wondered if they really had run into the man. He noticed the silhouette go at ease.

"Luigi! Is that really you?"

The man stepped forward into the light, showing that he was indeed Ryu. "My god! It is!" He cheered. The two old friends shook hands, delighted to be reunited. Ryu then looked over to Snake.

"Oh! Luigi, who is your friend here?"

"The name's Snake. Though people who haven't met me refer to me as "The Nomad"." Snake introduced himself, extending his hand to the martial artist. Ryu was shocked to know who he was looking at, and gladly shook Snake's hand.

"So you're the legendary Nomad? It's a pleasure to meet you! I've heard many tales about your exploits." Ryu complimented. "Please forgive my actions earlier. I was worried that you two might have been…"

"Let me guess. Committee assassins?" Snake finished for him.

"That's correct. I should've realized you two must be in the same boat as I am. You've probably crossed paths with them many times."

"You have no idea." Luigi laughed.

"Oh please! Do sit down! I'm sure there's much we can discuss." Ryu offered as if inviting them into his home.

The three sat around the campfire and ate their meals. They began conversing with each other.

"By the way, no need to apologize about earlier. We know how it is. You can never be too safe out here, especially when the Committee is after you." Snake said.

"I'm glad you understand." Ryu smiled.

"So you say that you've heard a lot about me, but you should know that you've been making a bit of a name for yourself out here. Luigi told me a little about you. You're a martial artist right?" Snake asked.

"That's right."

"What's your fighting style?"

"It is called Ansatsuken."

"Ansatsuken…Assassination Fist." Snake said to himself, translating the word. Ryu was pleasantly surprised upon hearing that.

"That's right. So you know Japanese?" He asked.

"I'm fluent in six languages. Japanese is one of them."

"Incredible!" Ryu said in fascination.

"Yeah really. You never told me about that." Luigi said.

"Well you never asked." Snake retorted.

"What about you Snake? What is your fighting style?" Ryu asked.

"It's not a very imaginative name. It's called CQC, and it's a bit of a mixture between judo and jujitsu that also utilizes weapons, preferably a knife and a pistol. It's a soldier's best friend when it comes to a stealth operation. It allows for striking, grappling, chokeholds, disarming, and shooting or stabbing if the situation requires it."

"That sounds fascinating! Do you think we can spar sometime in the future?" Ryu asked.

"Yeah sure. Without the knife and gun of course." He said and the three of them laughed.

"So Ryu, what's your current situation with the Committee." Luigi moved to the more serious matter.

"Well I've been on the run. They've sent a few of their hitmen after me and I've managed to either eliminate or evade each of them. But I'm afraid that I can't continue that forever. Sooner or later I'll make a mistake and it will cost me my life. What about you two?"

"We used to be the same way. That is until Snake and I decided to bring the fight to them." Luigi said in response. Ryu was interested to know more.

"We were tired of running away. I started learning the things they've been doing and it's clear that they're a threat to the good people of the wasteland. Things like propaganda, forcing settlements to be under their control, bioweapons that create mutants…" Snake went on.

"Wait! They're responsible for the mutant problem?" Ryu asked to which Snake nodded. "That's atrocious!"

"I agree, and that's why we're fighting. And the only way to take down an organization like this is to go directly for the head. Target the ones in charge."

"And how have you two been doing in regards to that?"

"We're half-way done." Luigi answered. Ryu's jaw dropped, almost in disbelief at what he heard. "Shulk and Robin are done for. That just leaves Roy and Marth."

"Luigi and I are currently after Roy. Tomorrow the two of us are going to find him and eliminate him."

"No…" Ryu said, confusing Snake and Luigi. " _We_ are going to find him…the three of us!"

"So you want in on this?" Snake questioned.

"Yes! I too am tired of running. The three of us were targeted by them because we go against the Committee's narrative, one where they're supposed to be the "heroes". I wish to help the good people of this land, to defend those unable to defend themselves. Not for fame or glory, but because it's the right thing to do. But the Committee is denying me the ability to do so." Ryu shook his fist in anger. "They are a bigger threat to the people then any army of raiders could hope to be. And for that, they must be stopped. I ask the two of you to let me join you in this. Let me fight this fight!"

Snake and Luigi look at each other briefly, and nodded, showing a silent agreement.

"I don't see any reason not to let you join. You're in Ryu." Snake decided.

"Thank you! Both of you!"

Luigi laughed to himself. "Looks like a triumvirate has been formed. The Nomad, The Green Missile and The Swordless Ronin working together. Wonder how the Committee will feel about their top three most wanted being on the same team."

* * *

After the three finished their meals, they were about ready to get some sleep. Though there was something on Ryu's mind.

"Hey Snake?"

"What is it?" the mercenary turned to the martial artist.

"If you don't mind me asking…what is that horn-shaped thing on your head?"

"Oh that? Its shrapnel, a little souvenir I got for being so close to ground zero. It also serves as a reminder."

"Of what?"

"A lot of things. One of them being that I survived when I shouldn't have, so I should be grateful for the fact that I'm even alive. It also reminds me of how I saw heroes become demons…demons that ruined not only the world, but people's lives as well."

Snake remained silent for a solid minute, recollecting the events he saw unfold just before the Catastrophe.

"I won't let it happen again…"


	20. Roy

After the sun rose, the three set out immediately towards the Mushroom Kingdom. Within a few hours they had finally arrived. They stood up on a cliff that gave them a good view of the city, and Snake began to do reconnaissance. He looked through his binoculars and looked towards the outer part of the city. Snake looked surprised at what he saw.

"What do you see?" Ryu asked.

"Well there's Committee guards as expected, but there are also a bunch of Toads. Looks like they're doing some manual labor." Snake then saw one of the guards kick one of the Toads. "Well…being forced to, that is."

"What are they doing?"

"Looks like they're moving all the rubble and debris from the outer part of the city."

"Making Toads do some clean-up work? What for?" Luigi wondered.

"Hang on, let me check the rest of the place out." Snake said and zoomed in with his binoculars. Focusing on the inner cities, Snake discovered something big.

"Holy shit…"

"What? What is it?" Luigi asked.

"The inner city…it's in great condition. Looks like they've been forcing Toads to do some repairs on the buildings. This place looks like it would make for a great settlement, but the Committee is using it as some sort of military camp. The place is crawling with guards."

"Do you see Roy anywhere?" Ryu asked.

"I'm afraid not. We'll have to move in to find him. But before we do we need to establish some parameters on how we handle this." Snake said, getting the attention of his teammates. "Like I said, this place looks like it would be great for a settlement, and I intend for it to be one. Let's try to keep collateral damage to a minimum. We're going to take this place back, and it'll belong to the people. Understood?"

"You've got it. Now let's not waste any time." Ryu agreed and the three made their way towards the entry point. They moved in at the outer city entrance, where three guards were ordering Toads to clean up the mess. The group decided that they would each take a guard down in unison. Snake used his suppressed SOCOM pistol for the first guard, killing him with a clean headshot. Luigi grabbed a hammer and threw it at the second guard's head with lethal precision, as the hammer crushed his skull. Ryu shot a lethal Hadoken at the third guard, and it went right through the man's chest, leaving a large hole afterwards. The three men fell dead, and the Toads started to panic after seeing it, wondering if they were next. The group wisely decided to reveal themselves.

"Ssh! It's okay! We're here to help!" Luigi quickly said to calm them down. The Toads looked at Luigi, and they began to calm down, and they recognized his face.

"Mr. Luigi! It's you!" One of them cheered.

"You're alive!"

"You came for us!"

"It's good to see all of you too. But it's too dangerous for a reunion right now. You all have to get to safety until we settle this situation."

"Okay!" The Toads obeyed.

"Hang on! Can any of you tell us what's going on up ahead?" Snake asked.

"Yeah, they have a lot of our friends working on building repairs."

"But you gotta be careful! They have a lot of baddies walking around there!"

"Please! Can you rescue our friends?"

"Don't worry, we'll get them all out." Snake promised. "One last thing. Do any of you know where Roy might be? He's the man with red hair."

"Oh that guy! He's usually inside the castle." A Toad answered.

"Okay! Thanks you guys! Now hurry on out of here!" Luigi ordered and the Toads obeyed.

"Let's move in." Ryu said and the three entered the kingdom.

* * *

Now the trio was deep into enemy territory. They were in the "ruins" of downtown Mushroom Kingdom.

"You know the mission men. We'll split up, take out any soldiers in our way, and when you see Roy, eliminate him."

"Got it." Ryu affirmed and the group went in different directions. Ryu jumped into the window of an old building. He hid behind a table and peeked out to scan the area.

 _Three guards in the area. I'll have to take them out quietly._

Ryu snuck up behind a guard and landed a strong chop to the enemy's neck. The guard fell down, his neck shattered. He moved to the next one and hit him with a solar plexus punch, followed by a swift kick to the chin.

 _He's out for the count._

Ryu saw the last man in the distance. He put his hands together, and prepped his attack. He whispered…

"Shinku…" A ball of energy formed in his hands. "HADOKEN!"

The energy burst from his hands, forming into a sphere. It blew through the last soldier's chest. After the building was cleared out, he heard some commotion. It was coming from behind a door. Ryu went for the doorknob, but the knob wouldn't budge.

 _Locked. Well there's always the alternative._

He tightened his fist, drew it back and punched the door down. He got inside and found Toad workers imprisoned in a cell.

"Who are you? You're not one of them are you?" One of them asked.

"No I'm not. In fact, I'm here to get you out. Get away from the door!" Ryu ordered. The Toads obeyed Ryu's command. He shot a Hadoken at the cell door and blasted it open. "Now move! Get out of here! I'll cover your escape."

The Toads made haste, following the path that was made clear for them thanks to Ryu. Ryu continued forward going up the stairs of the building until he made it to the roof. On the roof were a few more guards on patrol.

"What the hell?!"

Ryu quickly turned to see an enemy had spotted him. As the guard went for his radio Ryu quickly dashed up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. He threw the guard off the roof to eliminate him. He went back into hiding, hoping he didn't draw attention from any other guards. He stepped out of the shadows and faced a soldier, clocking him with a fierce haymaker to the head. As the man hit the floor he ruled him out to be no longer a threat. Ryu had been fighting for so long, that he had essential knew everything about his fists, and he knew how much damage his attacks did. He calculated that after that punch, the man was either dead or comatose. The last guard was standing on the edge of the roof. Ryu punished this mistake with a Hadoken that pushed him off the roof and to his death.

" _Ok, this building's clear. Time to move to the next._ " He thought and jumped on the roof of the adjacent building.

"Contact!" Ryu heard as soon as he landed.

" _Shit!"_ He cursed and dodged out of the way of gunfire. There was no cover on the roof, so Ryu improvised and punched a hole through the roof so he could quickly jump down to the next floor. Conveniently he landed on top of a guard, and stomped on his face to finish him. The guard from the roof had come downstairs and readied himself to attack Ryu. Ryu hit him with Joudan Sokutogeri kick, otherwise known as the mule kick. As the name implies, the kick has the force of one from said animal, sending the man flying into two of his comrades, knocking all of them down.

"Shakunetsu!" Ryu shouted and shot a flaming Hadoken at the three of them, burning them alive.

 _I have to keep moving._

* * *

Luigi leaped off the roof of a building and landed on a guard below. In extreme pain but not dead, Luigi finished him off with a neck breaking attack. Now he was out in the streets, lurking in the shadows. He could see the Castle in the distance. Since going through the streets was too risky, Luigi continued moving from building to building. He breached the door of the next building and immediately came into contact with an enemy. Luigi tackled him and put his hand over the man's face, covering his mouth and nose. Luigi began charging his hand up with fire and shot a fireball into the man's mouth for a kill. He snuck up on another guard and threw him against a wall, finishing him with a bullet to the head. He continued, slowly but surely, to eliminate each guard he came across. Like Ryu, he also came across a group of prisoner Toads and freed them. Eventually, Ryu and Luigi crossed paths.

"Ryu! How'd you get here?"

"I was just clearing out building by building until I got here. You?"

"I was doing the same thing. So that must mean that we've cleared this area out. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

"What about Snake? Isn't he heading toward the Castle?"

"Shit he is! We need to get over there and back him up fast!"

* * *

As smoke went up from the barrel of Snake's gun, he lowered the weapon, all six of the soldiers guarding the Castle door were eliminated. He entered the Castle and walked into the lobby. It was dark and quiet. But then the lights came on, and Snake found himself in the middle of the room surrounded by Committee troops armed with swords.

"Hold your weapons men!" A man called out. Snake looked up the stairs and saw Roy standing behind a railing. "So you're the one that-"

"No!" Snake cut him off.

"Excuse me?!" Roy scoffed.

"No monologues. No speeches. No taunting. No talking. Just come down here and fight me!" Snake challenged the red haired swordsman. Roy smiled.

"Well isn't somebody-"

Snake pulled out his gun and shot Roy in the thigh, not wanting to hear him speak.

"Son of a bitch! Kill him!" Roy ordered, grasping his wounded leg. He began to retreat upstairs, with Snake attempting to go after him, but he was stopped by the surrounding guards. He pulled out his machete for combat, and slashed two guards that charged him. He threw a grenade to lower the numbers. Then Snake heard wicked, obnoxious laughter coming from upstairs. He looked up to see Wario, who was now plummeting towards him. He rolled out of the way of Wario's ground pound just in time.

"So what are they paying you with? Garlic?"

"Oh and more!" Wario replied with an evil grin. Now Snake found himself in a bad position, facing Wario and numerous soldiers.

 _Dammit! They're cornering me!_

Snake fought with his machete, but was put on the defensive. When Wario got near he would manage to kick him away, but couldn't do more than that due to the onslaught of guards. Snake finally began to kill a few guards, but Wario managed to land a hard hitting punch to his head, and he was wearing spiked knuckles. Snake fell on his back and shouted from the pain, and he began to bleed from the head. Things were looking bleak, but suddenly Snake noticed something move across the room with the force of wind. He looked to see it was Ike, and he had just beheaded the guards.

"How the FUCK-"

Wario wasn't able to get anything else out as he was impaled by Ike mid-sentence.

"Gluttonous scumbag!" Ike cursed and kicked Wario's body off his sword. "C'mon Snake get up."

Snake looked up to see Ike extending his hand to him. He grabbed his hand and got back to his feet.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just making us even. Hurry we have to get to Roy!"

The two climbed up the stairs and went through the door Roy retreated through. Snake saw a trail of blood and examined it.

 _It's Roy's blood. From the bullet wound._

"Follow the blood trail. That'll take us to Roy."

"Wonder where the other guards are. And what about your friends?"

An explosion went off elsewhere in the room, and the bodies of several guards were hurled away from the source. Snake and Ike went to see it was Luigi and Ryu, who had just busted through.

"Snake! Ike!" Luigi said in relief.

"Good to see you two made it." Snake said.

"Well it wasn't as hard as we thought it would be." Ryu admitted.

"Ever since you guys killed Robin and Shulk, the organization has been falling apart. I don't know the specifics, but I can tell they're losing strength." Ike explained.

"We'll find out soon enough. Now follow me!" Snake ordered.

Following the blood trail, it led them to a small laboratory. Inside they found a wounded Roy arguing with a female scientist, whom Snake's group recognized.

"It's Rosalina!" Luigi said. They remained quiet and listened in on their argument.

"No! I won't let you absorb the Power Stars for yourself! They are only to be used for the benefit of the people!" She shouted.

"Foolish woman! Snake is here and he needs to be stopped! I can't fight him in this condition, I need those Stars!"

"The answer is no! I will not let you!"

"Do I need to kill a few more Luma's to convince you?"

"NO!" Rosalina begged. Finally Snake stepped in.

"So you coerce scientist as well? Shocking."

"God dammit!" Roy cursed and drew out his sword. Snake turned his attention to Rosalina.

"Excuse me miss. What were you told those Power Stars would be used for?"

"They're supposed to be used as a power source for settlements." She answered.

"And here he is planning to take away the people's energy source to power himself up." Ike laughed.

"I wouldn't have to do this if Marth hadn't double crossed me! He so scared of you that he withdrew most of my elite soldiers to go and guard him. If they were here, you four would've been dead before you could make it to the castle."

"I gave you a chance to fight me one on one when we got here. Why didn't you take it?"

"I-"

Snake drew out his pistol and fired three shots at Roy. Two to the chest, one to the head. And then the red-headed swordsman fell dead.

"I guess I'll never know." Snake said to himself and holstered his gun.

"Luigi! Ike! Ryu!" Rosalina called out, happy to see her fellow fighters again. The four took a moment to have a sweet reunion. Rosalina then took out a key and handed it to Luigi.

"Luigi, this is for a cell in the dungeon downstairs. They were keeping someone who I think you want to see there." She explained. Luigi didn't ask questions. He took the key and headed for the dungeons. Rosalina then looked to Snake.

"So you're Snake, the one I've heard so much about."

"So were they able to convince you that I'm the boogeyman?"

"The boogeyman is far less scary then what the Committee has become. Thank you for stepping up to fight them."

"Can you show me what's been going on in this lab?" Snake requested.

"Of course. Follow me."

* * *

Luigi entered the castle dungeon and searched through the cells. Finally he found the cell Rosalina mentioned, and he was speechless.

 _Oh my God! Is that…_

"Hello? Who's there?" A brunette woman woke up and called out. Luigi quickly unlocked the cell and held the woman in his arms.

"Daisy! Daisy it's me! Luigi!"

Daisy wiped her eyes, her vision cleared up. Once it did, her face lit up with joy.

"Oh Luigi! It's really you!" She threw her arms around him. "I thought you were gone!"

"I thought the same about you! Are you all right?"

"I am now Luigi."

After years of suffering and grief, he had found her. And this time, he wasn't going to let her disappear again.

* * *

"Rosalina? Now that we've driven the Committee out of here, do you think we'll be able to distribute these Power Stars among settlements?" Snake questioned.

"I believe so, yes."

"And what about the Mushroom Kingdom? We've been thinking about the possibility of returning it into a place for people to live. Do you think we can do that?"

"Absolutely! And I'd be more than happy to head the project."

"And you'll be able to continue with your research in this lab?"

"That's right! And with any luck, we might get more people to volunteer with research to help the wasteland, and we have everything we need in this lab!" Rosalina smiled.

"Damn Snake! I don't think this could've turned out any better!" Ike said.

"I'll say!" Ryu spoke out.

"Though there is one more thing I want to show you Snake. Please follow me." Rosalina began guiding Snake.

"What's this about?"

"There was a former member of the committee that realized the group was taking a turn for the worse. When she went out of line, they put her in cyrostasis to restrain her. Now that you've eliminated their presence here, I think it's time we free her. She can be a great help to us, but I think you need to catch her up to speed."

"Okay." Snake agreed, though was skeptical about all of this. Rosalina brought up the pod and Snake's heart began to race.

 _Those robes! That white hair!_

"What the hell! Is she Robin's twin or something?"

"No Snake, she is Robin."

"The Robin I killed was a man."

"Let me explain…"

"Yeah! Please do!"

"You know how Smash Brothers was made up of people picked from several different universes. Well the same thing applies to alternate universes. This Robin comes from a Fire Emblem universe where the one known as Robin was a female."

"So I can think of this as Robin's female counterpart?" He asked.

"Well I guess, but they are not the same people. Their personalities are different from each other."

"I figured that much, since you told me that she didn't go crazy."

"Right, right. So are you ready to speak with her?"

Snake rubbed his chin and took another look at the woman in the pod. After giving it some thought he decided.

"Okay, open her up."


	21. Not Finished Yet

"Rosalina?"

"Yes Snake?"

"What was the last thing Robin was doing before she was put into this pod?"

"She was fighting numerous guards to avoid capture."

Snake then stopped Rosalina before she unfroze Robin.

"What's wrong?"

"I've got a better idea. You're friends with her, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok, so I'm going to go in the other room. Because I don't think the first person she sees when we she gets out of being a human Popsicle is a complete stranger. She might lash out of me. So why don't you sit her down and explain everything, then send her to come speak to me."

"Hmm. That does sound like a better idea. Ok, I'll talk to her." Rosalina agreed.

* * *

Snake waited in an empty room, sitting near a table for several minutes for female Robin to enter. After Rosalina filled her in on what happened, she was ready to talk with the man and entered the room. She took a seat across the table from Snake.

"Hello there." She greeted.

"Uh…hey." He awkwardly responded.

"Rosalina filled me in on what she knows about your adventure. I must say I'm surprised. I heard you were strong, but what you've done is quite incredible."

"So you knew about me before today?"

"I was in charge of collecting information while I was in the Committee. Unlike the other members, I had no problem with your vigilante activities. I supported them as a matter of fact. We couldn't be everywhere at once, so having good people like you helping people in different areas of the Wasteland is beneficial to everyone." She explained.

"Glad you see things that way." Snake answered. Robin noticed the look on his face. He looked uncomfortable. She could tell that something was bothering him.

"Is there something wrong Snake?"

Snake let out a deep breath. "Yeah I'll admit it. I'm still wrapping my head around just what you are."

"You mean being Robin but a female counterpart?"

"Yeah. It feels like I'm looking at the sister of a man I've killed. I know that's not the case but…"

"It's alright. I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I have no quarrels with you for killing him. Same for Roy and Shulk. Before I was forced into that pod, I had deduced that the others had completely gone off the deep end. They had to be killed."

"So you had already been planning on assassinating them?"

"Yes but I failed completely. I was already under suspicion by the rest of the group, as my ideas did not follow theirs. So they stormed into my room, just when I was trying to leak information on the mutant strain." She remembered.

"What were you hoping to accomplish with leaking that information?"

"Well awareness of course! The people needed to know the horrible things the organization was conducting." She said. "Anyway that's enough about me. I'd more interested in talking about you. You've succeeded where I've failed. Tell me, aside from the assassination of three of the four Committee members, what else have you and your group managed to accomplish?"

"I prevented Robin from spreading the mutagen to an entire Pokemon village, we destroyed Shulk's lab, and we took the Mushroom Kingdom back. I think that's something."

"Goodness! I agree that is something! Especially the lab!"

"What about the lab?"

"Snake! With the destruction of lab, you've destroyed a critical part of the Committee. The lab is where most of the Committee's resources would come from. Weapons, Equipment, and other things a combat unit needs. Not to mention the destruction of the mutagen."

"So that really was the only place where that kind of research and development took place? Why?"

"The others didn't think a second facility was necessary. The believed that because of how well hidden the place was, it would be safe from those who would want to destroy. And they were sure that if anyone possible came across it, they could easily be dealt with. I don't think that they were expecting a visit from you."

"I'll give them credit, it was a clever hiding spot."

"In any case Snake, you've brought this group to its knees. Marth is all that's left. It's no secret that he stationed himself in New Smashville. Once he's eliminated, this organization will be gone from the Wasteland." Robin reminded him.

"I'm aware of that, but I don't think it's going to be as simple as just charging in to fight him. Roy said that Marth withdrew the elite guards from here to go back to protect Marth. That tells me the place will be on high alert. Not to mention, unlike the others, I would be going into a city to fight him. That means there'll be civilians around, and that means a high chance of innocent casualties. Throughout this whole journey, not once have I had to put innocent lives on the line to get things done, and I'm not about to start." Snake declared.

"Really? Forgive me for saying this but you strike me as an "ends justify the means" type of person."

"Your "friends" had that line of thinking. Look how it turned out for them."

Robin glared fiercely at him for saying that. "Hey! Look I swear they started out with good intentions-"

"Just save it, I've heard it all before." He cut her off. "In any case, you're right. I am usually an "ends justify the means" thinker. Being a soldier required that mindset. But that type of approach should only be used if there really is no other safe solution to a problem. I don't see shooting our way through a city as the only way to eliminate Marth. There are others ways we can do this without putting any civilian lives at risk. We just have to think some more."

Robin took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You're right, I'm sorry. Given what you've done, Marth isn't really in a good spot right now. His allies are dead, the development lab for his resources has been destroyed, so I guess there's no rush. I'll start thinking of some alternate methods." She said.

"Alright, thanks."

"And Snake?"

"What?"

"Thank you for all you've done. I'll follow you to the end." She expressed her loyalty and extended her hand to him. Snake shook her hand respectfully.

"Don't feel like you have to take orders from me. We're a team, a team with the same goal in mind. It's good to have you on board."

* * *

After finishing his conversation with Robin, Snake called Link over the radio.

" _What's up Snake?"_

"We did it. We took the Mushroom Kingdom back, and it's in great shape."

" _That's great news. What do you plan on doing with it?"_

"I'm returning it to its owner."

" _Peach?"_

"That's right. I want you and your men to escort her over here. If anyone should lead a civilization here it's her."

" _Alright. Consider it done."_

"Thanks Link."

" _What about Marth? You going after him now?"_

"No, not yet. But until then can you send some scouts to check on New Smashville? Have them report anything of interest."

" _I can do that too."_

"Again, thanks."

Ending the call he went back to the lobby of the castle, where Ryu, Rosalina and Ike were waiting.

"I let the Toads know that it's safe for them to come into the city. They're all settling in now." Ryu reported.

"Good. I called Link, and he's bringing Peach here. She can get this place thriving again."

"Oh it'll be so nice to see her again." Rosalina smiled. Snake then walked over to Ike, who was being silent in a corner of the room.

"So you're still here?" Snake asked.

"Of course I am."

"You want to join the fight?"

"That's right. I want to help."

"What about your family? Aren't you suppose to take care of them?"

"This had been on my mind since you beat me. They gave me the go ahead." The swordsman answered.

"If you say so. But if you were looking for action, you picked a bad time to join up."

"Is that so?"

"Until we can find a way to attack Marth without putting civilians in danger, we're not going into battle."

"Got any ideas?"

"No, but I'm working on it."

"Fine by me. I'll wait for your command."

"Okay. And thanks for saving my ass there." Snake said and patted Ike on the shoulder. "Hey Rosalina?"

"Yes Snake?"

"Where's Luigi?"

"Oh he's in the sleeping quarters downstairs with Daisy."

"Daisy?!"

* * *

Snake immediately went to the sleeping quarters. He found Daisy resting on one of the beds, with Luigi sitting on a chair at the bedside.

"I remember the first night we set up camp together…" Luigi began as he looked to Snake. Snake pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "And you mentioned her. You asked me if she was still alive, and I said I didn't know. But I thought the worst had happened. I thought that if I haven't seen a sign of her for seven years then she must be dead. But you believed she could still be alive. You convinced me to believe that she might still be alive…and you were right." He said as his eyes started to water.

"Looks like I was. Did we make a bet about that? Cause if we did, you owe me some coins." Snake joked, Luigi chuckling in response. "Did she say where she was all those years?"

"Traveling and surviving, just like us. She may not look it, but she's got a lot of fight in her. She can handle herself against bandits."

"I don't doubt it."

"She actually got captured and brought here only a week ago. Why they decided to capture her, she doesn't know."

"I don't think it matters now that she's safe."

"True. That's really what matters."

There was about a minute of silence between them. Snake eventually spoke up.

"Listen Luigi. With three of the four members dead, this fight is almost finished. Marth's up against the wall, his days are numbered. I couldn't have gotten this far without your help, so I want to thank you for that. But now, I think you should sit this out."

"What? Why?" Luigi asked in concern.

"Well the reason is right in front of you sleeping on a bed. You two had been separated for so long, and now you're finally together again. So go ahead and spend some time with her. You've earned it."

After thinking about it for a moment, Luigi came to a decision.

"All right, I will! You don't really need help taking that punk down anyway. It'd be overkill if I was with you." The man in green smiled.

* * *

It was late the next day when Link arrived, bring Peach and Zelda as well over to the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toads rejoiced at the sight of their long lost princess. At around midnight, Snake sat with the three of them out in the castle courtyard, looking up at the stars.

"Hard to believe this is almost over." Link said. The others felt the same way. The three had been involved with Snake since the beginning of this journey.

"I feel like it is all over. I mean look at how good things are going right now! I have the Mushroom Kingdom and my people back!" Peach shared her opinion.

"I know Peach, but we can't take this for granted. It will only truly be over when Marth is dead." Zelda reminded her.

"That's right. I don't want to take any chances of him rebuilding. Still, even when the Committee is gone, we're not exactly going to get paradise. Not all of the world's problems are because of them." Snake said.

"True. There are still mutants roaming around. The cause of their creation may be destroyed, but we need to wipe out the stragglers." Link noted.

"Not to mention the political work we'll have to do if we want to unify the other settlements." Zelda said not excited in the slightest.

"Zelda, I think we should tell Snake about our negotiations with Koopa Keep." Link suggested.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Snake almost started to worry.

"Oh no not at all! We've spoken with Sheriff Murphy and he's a very polite man. He's not at all opposed to the idea of making a unified settlement. Neither do his people, and that's good because Murphy has made it clear that he will only make decisions if his people want them. However there is one condition that the people require to be met before the give Murphy their blessing." Zelda explained.

"And what's that?"

"They want you to be a government official."

"Me? Why?"

"Well the Koopas are a little hesitant of being associated with a monarch like myself. I can understand why they feel that way, seeing as how their last king was the tyrant Bowser."

"I understand that too. But again, how does me being a government official help that?"

"Because the people idolize you. They look at you as a symbol of good, as a hero. You make them feel safe. The feel that with you in office, you can make sure none of the rulers step out of line."

"So I'd be in charge of checks and balances, is that the idea?"

"That's correct."

Snake's tone of voice expressed a clear lack of interest in the idea.

"Snake please!" Peach kindly requested. "I know you really don't like politics, but this is for a good cause. Having several species living together, it sounds like harmony."

"Okay. As long as I'm not in a role where I'm giving orders, I'll do it." He agreed and the other three rejoiced. Then Snake thought of something and couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What is it Snake?" Peach asked.

"It's kind of funny how much things changed during the course of this journey." He mused. "I remember this started off so simple. This used to be about getting bounty hunters off my back. Then it turned into something so much bigger. Once again I found myself in a battle against a shadowy organization. Then bioweapons come into play. I reunite with some old friends and make new ones, while at the same time I have to face new and old faces as enemies. This really has been one hell of a trip. It's had its ups and downs but overall, I'd say it was worth it. What do you all think?" Snake rambled.

"If it brought so many of us back together, then I'd say it was definitely worth it." Link said, and the two ladies nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm glad you all feel that way. I'm going to go get some rest. Good night." Snake said and went back into the castle.

* * *

By morning, Peach had been officially settled into her castle, and Link and Zelda were on their way back to Hyrule. Snake, Ike and Ryu were helping the Toad citizens clean up the city. The Toads were happy to do so this time, as they were doing it willingly instead of against their will.

"Geez! When Toads are motivated, they work pretty damn fast!" Ike noted the fast rate of progress.

"I know. It seems like they don't even need our help. We can barely keep up with them." Ryu said.

Then a familiar ring began to go off in Snake's ear.

"I'll be right back. I'm getting a call." He told the other two and answered the codec.

"This is Snake."

" _Snake!"_

"What is it Link?"

" _I sent scouts to watch over New Smashville like you asked, and they reported something back."_

"What?"

" _They saw Marth leaving the city…alone!"_

"What?!"

"Snake!" Robin called out and ran towards Snake.

"Hang on a second Link." He said and hung up on Link. "What is it Robin?"

"Take a look at this!" She demanded and handed him a paper. "It's a letter from Marth himself. He says he wants you to meet him at Ground Zero…alone."

"What?!" Ryu and Ike joined in and expressed their shock.

"He must want to finish this as much as I do." Snake thought.

"Looks like we won't have to wait as long as we thought." said Robin.

"I don't know. This could be a trap!" Ike feared.

"Maybe, but I'll take my chances."

Returning back to the castle, Snake gathered up all of his gear. His suit, his weapons, his equipment. All of it for what could possibly be the final battle. Before the word could get around to the others, Snake had already left unceremoniously.

 **Next…the Final Chapter.**


	22. Finale

Going off of Marth's personal letter, Snake traveled to Ground Zero. It of course was named that because that's where the battle seven years ago took place, the one Snake watched. Sure enough, he found the blue-haired swordsman standing in the crater created by Master Hand.

"So you've come." Marth said.

"I never turn down a challenge. Of course you already know that. You should've done this a lot earlier, save us both some time." Snake scolded him.

Marth chose not to dignify that with a response.

"That was very clever of you, the way you turned my men against me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't play dumb! The two soldiers. They claimed that you spared their life and revealed the truth to them. And they in turn revealed the truth to the other soldiers, the truth as to who was behind the mutants."

And then Snake remembered. The two soldiers he ease dropped on to get info on Robin's location. He remembered their doubts, their questioning as to whether they were doing the right thing. He revealed the truth to them and they felt ashamed. Snake refused to kill them, and told them to go and do something with their lives. He didn't expect to hear anything about them again, but apparently they chose to fight the good fight.

"The other soldiers became furious, and stormed into my room when they found out I had manipulated them. They ousted me from New Smashville, and told me to fend for myself." Marth further explained.

"And only then did you decide to challenge me, one on one?"

"I'm out of options it seems." He admitted. "Seven years ago, you witnessed the battle that led up to the Catastrophe. When you look at this place, what do you see?"

Snake took another look at his surroundings, brief flashes of the battle went through his mind.

"I think that this is the place where everything we once knew ended, but where everything we now know began."

"That's a good answer. But to me, I feel as though this is the place where Master Hand turned on us and destroyed our world! Destroyed everything we loved!" Marth spat, saying the Hand's name with disgust.

"No…no you're wrong Marth. Master Hand may have dealt the final blow, but even if he hadn't the world was slowly being destroyed by fighters with a bad case of megalomania." Snake retorted.

"So you think that he did what he did to rid the world of those dangerous fighters? To give whoever survived afterwards a chance to build a better world?"

"Maybe he did. But if he did he didn't get rid of them all, because I see one standing in front of me."

"You believe I'm mad with power?" The prince asked.

"I remember you being one of the many who couldn't get enough Smash Balls. So yeah, I think you are. Why don't you tell me the truth? What's your little group all about? Cause it sure as hell isn't about helping to make a better future."

Marth laughed with a sinister tone. "Looks like you can see through bullshit! Is that what my fellow members said this was about? Making a better world? Sacrifices have to be made?"

Snake growled in anger. "I knew it. You just wanted to play God. Looks like the real Marth is gone."

"With Master Hand dead, the world was for the taking. It should've always been in the hands of the Smashers. Only I was the one to see that. I wished to control things just as Master Hand could. I'd rule the people. I'd control history. I'd determine who was good and who was evil! But you…"

"Did I get in the way of your ambitions?" Snake mocked.

"Oh you did. Oh so much! The fact that you're even alive makes me wonder if there's another force at work here. Something or someone must have protected you from the blast!"

"Come on! Conspiracy theories?" he scoffed.

"Hear me out Snake. Did you ever wonder whatever happened…to Crazy Hand?"

Snake's attitude changed immediately. Suddenly Marth's crazy thoughts didn't sound too crazy.

"No…it never really occurred to me. Come to think of it I didn't see much of him around the time before the Catastrophe."

"Exactly! And he wasn't at the final battle! I think he's still alive! Still alive, and plotting against me. Maybe he wants full control of the world, but I'm in his way?" Marth thought fanatically. Snake then became hostile towards Marth again.

"If that's the case, then I'll finish the job for him." Snake said and drew out his elemental machete. Marth chuckled and equipped his Falchion for combat. Despite his smug demeanor, Marth was feeling something he hadn't felt in a very long time; Fear. He hadn't exactly been training all these years, and he was facing someone who's spent seven years braving the wasteland and specialized in one on one combat. The odds were not in his favor and he knew it.

The two charged at each other and clashed blades. They glared at each other intensely for a brief moment. Marth drew his blade back and began to attack. Snake blocked the attacks, and kicked Marth in the gut. While Marth leaned over in pain, Snake swung down to decapitate him. Marth rolled away just in time. Marth goes for a horizontal slice, and slightly grazes Snake across the chest. But it didn't stop Snake in the slightest. Marth went for a vertical slice, but Snake grabbed Marth's hand and stopped the sword from dropping down. Marth struggled to get his sword hand free of Snake's grasp, but Snake clearly was stronger than him. Marth threw a few punches at Snake's face, but Snake didn't flinch in the slightest. Then Snake struck Marth with a punch of his own and knocked Marth on his back. Marth quickly rose to his feet, knowing being grounded would mean death. He lunged his sword at Snake, but he sidestepped to avoid the attack and countered with his machete and cut Marth's arm. The elemental damage left a burning feeling on his wound. Now seeing Snake dashing towards him, Marth did a front flip, landing behind Snake and slashed him across the back. Marth had a smug smile after landing the attack, but that went away when he noticed Snake still not showing any feeling of pain from the attack. Before he knew it, Snake spun around and smashed Marth with a back-fist to the cheek. Marth staggered back from the force of the attack. When he recovered, he found himself floored by a roundhouse kick. As Snake approached Marth, the swordsman pulled out a throwing knife and threw it right at Snake's shoulder. Snake grunted in pain, but remained focus on the battle at hand. Marth got back up and the two clashed blades once more. Though this time, Marth was starting to overpower him, due to the damage that knife did to his arm.

" _I can't win a sword fight with an injured arm."_ Snake thought. Then he did something Marth didn't expect. He headbutted Marth with the shrapnel in his head. Marth screamed in pain and grasped his forehead with his hand. He looked at his hand, it was smeared with blood. The attack was painful to Snake as well, his head ringing from the attack. Against his better judgement, he used the attack again. Crimson blood further spewed from Marth's head. And then he struck with another headbutt, both of them screamed from the pain they were feeling.

"God dammit! Stop!" Marth begged.

"Fine…"

Snake dashed forward and stole Marth's Falchion from him and impaled him with his own weapon. After the sword went through Marth's body, a colorful and mystifying aura released from him. Snake recognized it.

"Smash Ball energy…"

The aura formed into a ball before exploding and fading into nothingness. As it did so, Snake swore he heard demonic screaming. Marth fell to his knees, the sword still inside him. He was dying and he knew it. If he pulled the sword out it would only speed things up. He still had things to say so he kept it in.

"Seven years…seven years that…thing…has been inside of me. Controlling my thoughts, my actions, my morals. But I wasn't completely gone. A part of me was still there! I could see all of what I was doing, and I could do nothing!" He explained as tears began to drop from his eyes.

"Marth?"

"Yes Snake. It's me…the real me."

"What the hell happened?"'

"My Falchion, is a sword of divine power. It is a weapon to vanquish evil, and any force that would tarnish souls with evil."

"And the energy of a Smash Ball falls under that category?"

"Yes. But you…have freed me from its control. Freed me from that horrible nightmare."

"I wish there was a different way of doing that."

"I know you do Snake, but you did the right thing. All of us were beyond help."

"The Smash Ball energy really is that bad huh?"

"You were too right Snake. Master Hand should've listened to your warnings." Marth said.

"I can't say I'm happy for being right about that."

Marth began coughing up blood.

"Snake…you and I both know that I'm not walking out of this alive right?"

"Yeah…I know." Snake lamented.

"At the very least…I can die happily knowing that the Wasteland has someone like you to protect it." The Hero King smiled.

"Well, I didn't do all of it alone. I had friends backing me up along the way."

"Well, that's even better." Marth said with relief. "You've vanquished a great evil today Snake…but don't let you or your friends let your guard down."

"Yeah I know how it goes. You defeat one evil force, then another one ends up coming to take its place. I'll make sure we're ready for whatever comes next."

"I know you will." Marth confidently believed. "One last thing Snake. What I said about Crazy Hand. There's some truth to that. While I don't think there's a big conspiracy with me as the target, I do believe that he might still be out there."

"Yeah. I've got the same feeling since you brought it up. I'll make sure to look into it the best I can."

"Good! Thanks Snake."

Marth began to feel immense pain spread throughout his body. He knew what it meant.

"It looks like it's time for me to go." Marth stood up and Snake nodded grimly. "By the way…my wife…is she…"

"Don't worry, she's safe and sound. And I've got the feeling she knows that megalomaniac wasn't her husband." Snake assured.

"Good…thanks Snake."

And with that he pulled his Falchion out of his body, blood rapidly began to drain. He collapsed to the ground, but with the last bit of his strength, he threw the sword at Snake's feet.

"Take it Snake!" He pleaded. "Destroy it, keep it, do whatever you want with it. Just don't let it fall into the wrong hands!"

Snake reached down and picked up Falchion. He put it along with the rest of his equipment. This was a former Smasher's last request, and he would carry it out.

"Goodbye Marth."

"Goodbye Snake…"

After a few more seconds, Marth's life force had faded away. The Hero King was no more. After paying his final respects, Snake turned to leave, but suddenly he heard a large amount of footsteps, and it sounded like they were heading his way.

"I think he went over here!" He heard a voice shout. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by a large number of Committee soldiers. They arrived to see him standing over Marth's dead body. With their leader gone, he wasn't sure what to expect from this leaderless army.

"He did it! He actually did it!" He heard a voice cheerful shout in the back.

"What? GAH!" Snake fell to his knees as the wounds he received from the battle began to kick in. He started fading in and out of consciousness.

"He's wounded! Get him to a medic ASAP!" He heard one of the soldiers say and could feel two people help him up to his feet and assisted him in walking.

* * *

Sure enough, Snake found himself escorted to a nearby camp, and was being attended to by two medics, one male and one female.

"I think we'll start with the most obvious injury." The male said referring to the knife in Snake's shoulder.

"If it's not too much trouble." Snake replied.

The doctor gripped the handle of the knife. "Ready?"

Snake took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable pain that would come from removing the knife. "Yeah, ready."

The man swiftly removed the knife. Snake let out a low grunt of pain, while the woman almost instantly began putting pressure on the wound. Snake was surprised. The process was a lot less painful than he thought it would be. It was clear these two were very skilled in their profession.

"Thanks." He said as they closed up the wound.

"Your welcome. Now we'll need you to take off your upper layer of clothing. We need to stitch up those cuts on your chest, arm and back." The female medic said.

"Alright." Snake said and obliged to the request.

"Do you want some anesthetic while we stitch this up?" The man asked.

"No thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm used to stitching up my own wounds so it won't be a problem."

"Very well then."

Several minutes later, the two medics treated and patched up Snake's wounds. Then two men walked into the tent.

"How's our man doing, Doc?" One asked.

"Oh just fine. We just finished, so we'll leave you two to talk to him." The doctor said and left with his colleague.

"Do you remember us Snake?" The second man asked. Snake took a moment to analyze the sound of his voice, going through his brain to see who it belonged to. He found the match.

"Yeah! You're the two soldiers that told me where to find Robin."

"That's right! But we never really formally introduced ourselves. My name is Victor."

"And I'm Macready." The second soldier said.

"Good to meet you two. Looks like the two of you took my advice and decided to fight the good fight."

"We never forgot what you did for us sir! You showed us the truth, and we felt that the others should know as well." Macready explained.

"Where are the others?" Snake asked.

"Follow us! We'll show you!" Victor said.

Snake stepped outside the tent, and was greeted to a wave of former Committee soldiers standing and saluting him.

"SIR!" The soldiers all said in unison.

Snake stood in front of them confused.

"Who are they talking to?" He asked Vic and Macready.

"They're talking to you, sir." Vic said.

"Me? Why me?"

"We are all eternally grateful to you for helping us to stop being a part of a mistake. We want you to be our Commanding Officer. Because we believe in you, and we believe that you will always lead us to fight the good fight!"

Snake was shocked. Here was an entire group of soldiers for him to command. He wanted to decline the offer of being their leader, but he couldn't. He sympathized with these men. They had been manipulated by their superiors as he had been numerous times in the past. He felt honored.

 _I don't have a good reason to refuse. These men want to right the wrongs they were tricked into committing. They just want to help. And I don't think anyone will trust them if they're not with me. They'd be perfect for helping the Unified Republic me and the others have been planning._

"All right! I accept!" He agreed aloud. First things first, we're going to New Hyrule. Everyone follow me!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The men shouted.

* * *

Snake headed to New Hyrule, along with the new men under his command. Several of his friends, new and old, were waiting for him there. Peach, Link, Zelda, Fox, Krystal, Luigi, Daisy, Ryu, Ike, Lucina, Rosalina, and Female Robin were all ready to congratulate Snake on completing his mission. Snake had arrived and they were filled with joy. However, they became suspicious once they saw a wave of Committee soldiers following him.

"Relax! They're with me." Snake said to calm his friends down.

"Who are they?" Link asked.

"Men and women who were fooled into fighting for a cause they don't believe in. Really, they're just like us. They just want to help."

And just like that they lowered their suspicions. They just trusted Snake that much.

"All right. If they're with you, then they're okay in my book." Luigi said.

Snake walked over to Link, Zelda and Peach. Peach gave Snake a tight hug, and he returned the embrace.

"You did it! You came back!" She cheered.

"I told you I had a pretty good chance didn't I?"

Once she released him from the hug, he looked to her, Link and Zelda.

"I think it's time we get this…Republic that we've been talking about off the ground."

* * *

To start things off, Snake was given the position of "Peace Keeper". With that position, he would act as the "checks and balances" of the Smash Republic, checking that governing officials weren't abusing their authority, and stepping in if they were. Of course he wasn't worried about having to exercise that power. He trusted the others enough to make the right decisions, and they trusted him with the role.

Then Snake would make Koopa Keep's alliance with the Republic official. With Snake being given a government role, the citizens felt safe with aligning themselves with the more Monarchy styled settlements. He would also create an alliance with Mewtwo and the Pokemon village, an alliance Mewtwo was more than happy to make.

New Smashville was also integrated into the Republic. With Marth gone, leadership of the city was shared between Snake, Zelda, Peach, and Murphy until an official leader could be elected in. The people of Smashville had no problems with this, especially with the idea of the legendary "Nomad" watching over them.

The former Committee soldiers became a part of the "Nomad Squad", a squad commanded by Snake himself. They were split amongst the different Republic settlements to serve as the protectors. They were actually given a warm welcome by the citizens, something they never got while serving the Committee. They finally felt like they were truly serving the people.

Snake kept his promise to Peach, and decided to stay around for a while, take a break from his perilous travels. She gave him a grand tour of the Mushroom Kingdom amongst other things. He helped her get some more practice at the shooting range. He enjoyed spending time with her. She helped to remind him of the simpler and enjoyable things in life.

He also trained the Hylian and Nomad soldiers in CQC. He was very impressed with their resolve. No matter how many times he'd knock them off their feet and on their ass, they'd get back up and were ready to learn some more. They were true soldiers, and he made sure that they knew that.

Ryu watched the CQC training and took interest in it. He challenged Snake to a sparring match. He barely won the first round, but it seemed that round was Snake sizing Ryu up. The next round, Snake had very quickly adapted to Ryu's fighting style and created multiple methods to counter him, and defeated Ryu. It took Ryu a few more matches to adapt to Snake's CQC, but afterwards they became evenly matched. Their fights would always end in a draw.

And of course, Snake gave Marth's Falchion to Caeda. Of all people, she deserved to keep it. He told her to always remember her late husband for who he really was, and not what became of him.

Snake enjoyed his vacation. He got to catch up with old friends, get to know some new ones, and watch as the Wasteland took a step forward towards becoming a better place. However, it wasn't time for him to retire. After a month of R&R, he was getting ready to get back in action.

* * *

"Snake! I'm glad I found you!" Rosalina said excitedly.

"What's up Rosa?"

"There's something I want to show you! Follow me!"

Snake walked with Rosalina as she guided him to her lab.

"I've been working on this for about two weeks, and I finished it just in time! I think you're going to like it."

"Well what is it?" Snake asked. Then Rosalina showed him her project. "Oh. It's my sneaking suit. Did you do something with it?"

"I did! It's not just an ordinary sneaking suit anymore. I've imbued it with Star power, so now it'll serve as a much better suit to keep you protected in the wasteland. Its durability is significantly improved and will provide much better protection. And that's just one feature."

"Are you sure about using Star Power? If I have Star Power in me, isn't there a chance that I could become power-hungry?" Snake asked with concern.

"Oh don't worry. The Star power is only in the suit. It won't put any of the power in you."

"Alright, I trust you. Thanks a lot Rosalina!"

"Anything to help you in your travels!"

He put on the modified sneaking suit. Despite the changes made to the suit, Snake didn't think the suit felt different since he last wore it. This impressed him, as he didn't have to worry about getting used to a new suit. With the suit now on, he retrieved the rest of his weapons and equipment. He had everything he needed, and was ready to go back into the wasteland.

* * *

 _The Committee is gone, but there's still so much that I have to do. There are mutants that need to be eliminated, slaves that need to freed, people and settlements that need to be protected. We need to be prepared for any force of evil that will inevitably rise up and take the Committee's old spot of the number one threat to the wasteland. It may even prove to be more of a threat then the Committee. But no matter who or what it turns out to be…I'll be on the frontlines to fight against it._

This adventure has ended, but a new one is about to begin…

* * *

 **The End…of this story arc that is. I'd like to title it the "Committee" Arc.**

 **You thought this would be it for Wasteland? No sir/ma'am. There's still so many things that haven't been answered! There are so many characters whose fates remain unknown! I have a whole new story arc in the works that will continue the story of the** _ **Wasteland**_ **universe.**

 **It'll be titled** _ **Wasteland: The Left Hand**_ **, so I hope you look forward to that.**

 **Thanks to everyone who read, followed, favorited, reviewed for all your support. This is by far my favorite story that I've written on this site. I enjoyed making it, and I feel there's so much more that I can do with it.**

 **Peace!**


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